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These Tweets From The London Tube Explosion Capture The Chaos & Fear At The Scene
The news on Friday morning didn't start out bright, with reports of an explosion at the Parsons Green station of the London Underground dominating the coverage. Now, there are also many tweets from the London underground blast at Parsons Green that you can look at to see what it was like for the people who experienced it most closely. While the facts still aren't entirely pinned down about the explosion, British authorities are investigating it as a terror attack and the hunt for the person who set off the explosion is still ongoing.
The explosion occurred at 8:20 a.m. local time at Parsons Green, setting off a wave of panic around the station. Since then police have been able to gather a few more piece of information, including the frightening fact that the improvised explosive device, or IED, was actually meant to be more damaging, but it didn't detonate fully. The Guardian reports that 22 people have been transported to various London hospitals, mostly with burn injuries, but that no one is currently in very serious condition.
Several high-ranking politicians have already spoken out about the event, including Prime Minister Theresa May and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. London Mayor Sadiq Khan released a statement on Twitter, saying that "our city utterly condemns the hideous individuals who attempt to use terror to harm us and destroy our way of life." Through these tweets, you'll be able to see a description of the event through a slightly different lens.
1The Eyewitness Account
The New York Times spoke with a woman who was there, Natalie Belford, and her whole account was as follows:
The train was packed, and I was down the other side of the carriage standing up, looking at my phone and then I heard a big boom and felt this heat on my face. I ran for my life, but there was no way out. The doors were full of people and the carriage was too packed to move down.
2The View From Above
This witness saw the attack from his apartment above Parsons Green Station.
3What A Terrifying Feeling
If people are running around you, you run — even if you don't know where from or where to.
4It Wasn't Only The People On The Train
This woman wasn't even on the train, but the attack created a stampede that nearly trampled her.
5The Attack Affected Many People
This man was fortunate enough not to be injured himself, but you can see that it left him very scared.
6The British Response
People in the area offered tea to the people who were worried for their lives only moments before — a wonderful example of communities banding together in times of hardship.
7An Official Update
It's never good when numerous people have to be rushed to hospitals around the city, but right now we can at least be thankful that those injured aren't now in life-threatening condition.
8A Well-Deserved Thank You
It would be better if the emergency services had nowhere they needed to be — but it's comforting to know that they performed admirably in this difficult situation.
9Best To Just Stay Away
It'll no doubt be several hours before everything is deemed safe and then everything calms down.
10The Right Response
There are always many hateful and bigoted responses to attacks like the one this morning at Parsons Green, but this commenter shows that it doesn't have to be that way.
12It Wasn't Just The Fireball
It's extremely fortunate that more people weren't injured just from trying to escape from the scene.
13The Secondhand Account
The writer's sister probably didn't expect to leave her commute this morning with burnt hair, so it's entirely reasonable that she'd be pretty shaken up.
16An Ode To The Neighborhood
This is really hitting home for the people who call the Parsons Green area home.
17Finally, A Moment Of Humor
It's important to see the humor in dark situations — that's exactly what the terrorists don't want, so it's one way to hand them a small defeat.
The news of this attack gave London a dark mood to start the weekend, but you can also focus on the actions of the people who stepped up to help each other in so many ways, including by offering much needed cups of tea to strangers off the street. As a famous (fictional) resident of the U.K. once said, "Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light."
