Stories of bystanders fighting their way into mangled, pitch-black subway cars and refusing to leave passengers whose lives were slipping away. Stories of body parts strewn in the rubble of a sliced-open bus. Stories of grievously wounded people who somehow cheated death because of resilience, luck and the extraordinary efforts of strangers.
And the story, too, of how four British men of Pakistani descent committed one of the worst acts of terrorism in British history on July 7, 2005, setting off four bombs in London’s transportation network that killed 56 people, including themselves, and wounded at least 700 more.
Nearly six years later, after a highly unusual inquest in which the final moments of each of the 52 victims’ lives unfolded in forensic detail in a courtroom here, the coroner in the case made her ruling: “unlawful killing.”
It was a foregone conclusion, as, in a way, was her other finding: “That the evidence I have heard does not justify the conclusion that any failings on the part of any organization or individual caused or contributed to any of the deaths.”
But the coroner, Lady Justice Hallett, explained that the inquest, standard practice after violent deaths in Britain, had in this case a larger purpose: to provide a way for the surviving families to “find out what happened, how their loved ones died and if their deaths could have been prevented.”
The inquest into the 7/7 bombings, as they are known, has been widely praised for its humane and sensitive approach. Though inquests are usually held soon after someone dies, this one was delayed until after the end of several terrorist trials that had bearing on the evidence.
It was an immensely complicated proceeding, dealing with four crime scenes, three in the subway system and one on a bus in central London, and detailing the background and movements of the four men responsible. It heard from 309 witnesses, including intelligence officers, and listened to the written statements of 197 other people.
In her remarks, Lady Justice Hallett said she was certain that the bombings could not have been prevented, even though two of the bombers were known by MI5, Britain’s domestic security service.
She also acknowledged that there were widespread problems in the emergency response to the bombings: some people who survived the attacks died while waiting for up to an hour to be rescued. But she also said that after hearing all the medical evidence, she was convinced that none of those victims would have survived.
“The evidence I have heard does not justify the conclusion that any failings on the part of any organization or individual caused or contributed to any of the deaths,” the coroner said.
But she made a number of recommendations about how the security services could improve intelligence gathering and the emergency services their coordination and organization.
The families of some of the victims said that her recommendations did not go far enough and called for a new inquiry. At the same time, 10 of the families said they were grateful for how the inquest had been conducted.
“The coroner should be commended for her efforts in ensuring that these proceedings have been conducted at all times in a dignified, timely and sensitive manner to those who lost their lives,” they said in a statement.
Day after day, the inquest heard from an array of witnesses, some arriving in wheelchairs or using crutches or canes, others still traumatized and in counseling. Some of the witnesses said that anyone would have helped the way that they did.
The inquest heard how Group Capt. Craig Staniforth of the Royal Air Force smashed his way into one of the bombed subway cars, swinging onto the wreckage from handrails and then discussing his daughter’s college applications with a severely wounded passenger in an effort to keep him conscious.
“I can almost reel off to this day what four universities those were,” the passenger, John Tulloch, told the inquest.
It heard how another passenger, Steve Hucklesbury, climbed into a wrecked car to try to resuscitate Laura Webb, 29, with help from a woman shouting directions through the window, but how he had to give up when her mouth and nose filled with blood and it was clear that nothing more could be done.
It heard how Gill Hicks, on the subway near the Russell Square station, seeing that her legs were “literally hanging by a sinew of skin,” fashioned two tourniquets out of her scarf and willed herself to remain alert because otherwise, “you know, I would die,” she said. She lost 75 percent of her blood and both her legs.
“Until I started this process, I had no idea that people could survive injuries as horrific as yours,” Lady Justice Hallett told her at the inquest. “You are amazing.”
And it heard how Gerardine Quaghebeur, a neuroradiologist who was sitting in the same subway car as one of the bombers, refused to evacuate the wrecked, pitch-black train. wounded, dead and dying passengers, stacked one on top of the other.
Speaking of a woman who had been seated near her, Ms. Quaghebeur said: “She asked, ‘You can’t be leaving us. You aren’t going to leave us?’?”
“No,” she replied. “No, I’ll stay.”
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