Beth
11th October 2010, 19:03
LINK (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101011/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_bombings_inquest)
The hearings are expected to last five months and will look at whether the emergency services' response was adequate and whether the intelligence services and police could have prevented the attacks.
The inquest heard recordings of phone calls among transit staff and emergency workers on July 7. Keith said they show "a very confused picture," from early reports of a power failure to the realization of the scale of the disaster. Callers are heard describing injured, soot-covered passengers and asking for emergency services to be sent.
"A considerable amount of time had elapsed, you will have seen, from the moment of the explosion of the bombs to the acceptance by the staff ... that in fact they were bomb-related," Keith said.
A 2006 report into the bombings by the London Assembly said poor communications among emergency workers marred the response to the attacks. Mobile phone networks jammed and radio communication from ground level to rescue workers failed.
Although officials initially said they had no advance knowledge of the bombers, inquiries revealed that two of them, Khan and Shehzad Tanweer, had been under surveillance as part of an investigation into an earlier, foiled, bomb plot.
They were never pursued because officials were overwhelmed with other threats perceived to be more serious.
Some victims' relatives have expressed concern that the intelligence services will cite security issues to avoid giving evidence in public.
Thought this was interesting.
The hearings are expected to last five months and will look at whether the emergency services' response was adequate and whether the intelligence services and police could have prevented the attacks.
The inquest heard recordings of phone calls among transit staff and emergency workers on July 7. Keith said they show "a very confused picture," from early reports of a power failure to the realization of the scale of the disaster. Callers are heard describing injured, soot-covered passengers and asking for emergency services to be sent.
"A considerable amount of time had elapsed, you will have seen, from the moment of the explosion of the bombs to the acceptance by the staff ... that in fact they were bomb-related," Keith said.
A 2006 report into the bombings by the London Assembly said poor communications among emergency workers marred the response to the attacks. Mobile phone networks jammed and radio communication from ground level to rescue workers failed.
Although officials initially said they had no advance knowledge of the bombers, inquiries revealed that two of them, Khan and Shehzad Tanweer, had been under surveillance as part of an investigation into an earlier, foiled, bomb plot.
They were never pursued because officials were overwhelmed with other threats perceived to be more serious.
Some victims' relatives have expressed concern that the intelligence services will cite security issues to avoid giving evidence in public.
Thought this was interesting.