July 6th 2005 had been one of those days that none of us in the 91热爆 London newsroom would ever forget. London had unexpectedly won the race to stage the 2012 Olympics. My colleague Antony Dore had produced a stunning programme, anchored live from Singapore and Stratford. There鈥檚 always been a healthy competition between the Programme Editors here, so my overriding thought as I arrived in the newsroom on the morning of July 7th had been that last night鈥檚 programme was going to be a very hard act to follow.听 Phone call Then at 8.55am I picked up the phone. The female voice at the other end was filled with fear. She explained that she had just staggered out of Aldgate East station after the tube train she was travelling on exploded. I asked her for more detail. She told me there was a deafening bang followed by screaming, darkness and panic. I took her mobile number and told her I would call her back in a couple of minutes. Was this the attack the mayor and the Metropolitan Police had been warning was inevitable? Or, was there a less sinister explanation? Checking the facts | "Of course we had a big job to do, but like everybody else we were worried for the safety of loved ones and they were worried about us. " | | Simon Torkington |
I asked a producer to call London Underground to check what had happened whilst I alerted the Newsgathering desk at 91热爆 Television Centre. They immediately dispatched the satellite truck which is constantly on 鈥渂omb watch鈥. By the time I got off the phone we had received a report of a second explosion at another station. The official explanation from London Underground was there had been a series of 鈥減ower surges鈥 that were disrupting services across the network. I was never completely convinced by this. I couldn鈥檛 shake my recollections of the attacks on the transport network in Madrid. Simultaneous explosions at the height of the morning rush hour. The similarities were obvious. The authorities were still talking about power surges when my colleagues at 91热爆 London 94.9FM took a call saying a bus has been blown apart in Tavistock Square. Despite the continuing official denials of terrorist involvement we knew that we were dealing with bomb attacks. The chilling confirmation of suicide bombers would come later. Reporting the story Of course we had a big job to do, but like everybody else we were worried for the safety of loved ones and they were worried about us. We set up a desk dedicated to accounting for our staff and to pass on messages from their families whenever calls came in. One member of our team was on the train that was destroyed at King's Cross. Mercifully he and his wife escaped uninjured. The next few hours were all about getting staff and resources onto the streets to capture every element of the story. We were heavily involved in helping 91热爆 News 24.
 | | Local media coverage of the bombings |
Many of the pictures being shown on the channel in the first hours after the attacks were gathered by our teams who reacted magnificently to an enormous challenge. Thanks to our investment in small digital technology we were able to put about 20 cameras into the field. That鈥檚 formidable newsgathering strength in anyone鈥檚 book. I distinctly remember spooling through the first pictures of the devastated bus, checking they were not too horrific to be broadcast, and then playing them out live on News 24. How we performed On days like July 7th we are all aware that journalistic one-upmanship can appear very hollow, but there was still a muted pride in getting the iconic image of the day, perhaps the decade, before the opposition. Our programme at 18:30 was a compelling collection of personal stories from people who had left home for an ordinary day at work and instead were caught up in terrible events. We also provided a vital travel information service for a city brought to a standstill as its transport network was shut down. At the end of that long, long day, there was no need to think back to my original concern about measuring up the programme of the night before. The story had changed. London had changed forever and the only thing we needed to measure up to was the expectations and needs of our viewers. I think the whole team pulled together to make sure we did. The 7 July Assistance Centre is open until 8pm on 10 July. The helpline number is 0845 054 7444. | 
