The attacks during the morning rush hour of 7 July 2005 killed 52 and injured 784 in mainland Britain’s worst terrorist atrocity

Ten years to the minute after the 7/7 bombings brought carnage to London, the 52 victims of the terrorist atrocity were remembered in a simple ceremony at the Hyde Park memorial that bears their names.

At the first of a series of events throughout Tuesday to mark the 10th anniversary, David Cameron and Boris Johnson stood with heads bowed in silent tribute at 8.50am amid the 52 steel pillars, each one representing a life lost.

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The skies above central London darkened suddenly as the prime minister and the mayor of London walked silently through the thicket of stainless steel pillars, the only sounds the clicking of cameras and the rumble of passing traffic.

They were followed by representatives of the emergency services, each laying their own floral tributes, and watched only by a few dozen members of the public who filed away silently as the brief but poignant ceremony concluded.

A one-minute silence will be observed across the country at 11.30am, with the capital’s transport network coming to a standstill as a national service of remembrance is held at St Paul’s Cathedral to mark a decade since mainland Britain’s worst terrorist attack. Petals will fall down from the cathedral’s Whispering Gallery at the end of the silence “as a visual reminder and symbol of those who died and those who have suffered”, said the Very Rev Dr David Ison, the dean of St Paul’s.

As Londoners made their way to work, many answered the call to walk together, getting off their tubes and buses one stop earlier, to walk in remembrance of the victims and the many hundreds of survivors.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner, Imam Qari Asim, 7/7 survivor Gill Hicks and Rev Bertrand Olivier on Monday at an event at King’s Cross station to promote religious unity. Photograph: Niklas Halle'n/AFP/Getty Images

A further service for survivors and relatives of the victims, attended by the Duke of Cambridge, will be held at the memorial site on Tuesday afternoon and will include music, a series of readings and the laying of flowers.

It was during rush hour on 7 July 2005 that three bombs were detonated in quick succession from 8.49am on tube trains. A fourth was detonated on the top deck of a No 30 bus at Tavistock Square almost an hour later. Many who died there had already been evacuated from tube stations, some even calling their families to let them know they were safe.

The four suicide bombers, Mohammad Sidique Khan, 30, Shehzad Tanweer, 22, Hasib Hussain, 18, and Jermaine Lindsay, 19, had met at Luton and travelled to King’s Cross station where, at 8.30am, they were seen hugging before splitting up.

On the eastbound Circle line train at Aldgate, seven people died and 171 were injured. At Edgware Road, a bomb was detonated on the westbound Circle line train, killing seven, including the bomber, and injuring 163. Between King’s Cross and Russell Square, 26 victims were killed while more than 340 were injured.

At 9.47am, Hussain, who had walked out of King’s Cross underground station and tried unsuccessfully to contact the other three, detonated his bomb on board the bus. Fourteen people, including Hussain, died and more than 110 were injured.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The 7/7 memorial in Hyde Park. Photograph: Niklas Halle'n/AFP/Getty Images

Ahead of the wreath laying, the mayor said: “On the 10th anniversary of the attacks we honour the victims, we remember the sufferings of their families and we pay tribute to the actions of our emergency services on that appalling day.”

The 7/7 killers had “failed in their aim” and “didn’t in any way change the fundamentals of London and what makes this city great”, he said, adding: “Indeed, it’s gone from strength to strength in the 10 years since.”

Flowers were also laid at Russell Square, Aldgate and Edgware Road stations by people visibly moved.

At 9.47am, the time the No 30 bus exploded, a short service was being held at Tavistock Square and the names of the 13 innocent victims read aloud. The explosion occurred as a medical conference was being held nearby, and doctors rushed to the scene. One of those doctors was to light a candle of remembrance.



The attacks came the day after a buoyant London had succeeded in its bid for the 2012 Olympics. By 10.21am, Scotland Yard had confirmed “multiple explosions” in the capital. By noon, the then prime minister, Tony Blair, speaking at the G8 summit in Gleneagles, confirmed the worst. He said: “It is reasonably clear there have been a series of terrorist attacks in London.”

Marking the anniversary on Tuesday, Cameron said: “Today, the country comes together to remember the victims of one of the deadliest terrorist atrocities on mainland Britain.

“Ten years on from the 7/7 London attacks, the threat from terrorism continues to be as real as it is deadly – the murder of 30 innocent Britons while holidaying in Tunisia is a brutal reminder of that fact.

“But we will never be cowed by terrorism. We will keep on doing all that we can to keep the British public safe, protecting vulnerable young minds from others’ extremist beliefs and promoting the shared values of tolerance, love and respect that make Britain so great.”

On Monday, Gill Hicks, who lost both legs below the knee in the atrocity, was reunited outside King’s Cross station with PC Andrew Maxwell, one of the Metropolitan police officers who saved her life by using a makeshift stretcher to carry her out of the tube tunnel to receive emergency medical treatment. Their impromptu reunion came as she helped launch a walk by faith leaders promoting religious unity ahead of the anniversary of the attacks.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Survivor Gill Hicks is reunited with PC Andrew Maxwell, who was one of the police officers who saved her life following the bomb on the Piccadilly line train. Photograph: Niklas Halle'n/AFP/Getty Images

Imam Qari Asim, of Leeds’s largest mosque, said it sent out a message of solidarity with the victims, who included people of all faiths, and against terrorists. He said: “We are sending out a strong message to extremists and supporters of extremists that we will not let you win. Hatred and violence has no place in our society, our community and our globe.”

Blair described how one of the biggest challenges after the terrorist attacks had been striking a balance between keeping the public safe and avoiding shutting down London.

He said in an interview on LBC radio: “This was literally the day after we had won the Olympic bid for Britain. It was a moment of great euphoria for the country; for me, it was a huge moment of joy and hope for the future.” On hearing news of the devastating attacks, his first response was to try to “bring people together” and deal with the “huge trauma” suffered by the capital.



Blair said: “We thought at the time there was a distinct possibility these attacks would not be a one-off.” He faced difficult decisions in the following weeks “in constant anxiety” whenever there was a warning of another attack.



MI5’s director general, Andrew Parker, described the 7/7 bombings as an “enduring reminder” of what the organisation “is striving every day to prevent”.

7/7 seemed to herald a new era of terror on UK soil – one that did not materialise Read more

He said: “We did take one or two of the warnings very seriously and shut the underground, or part of it. But then we came to a point where I decided we wouldn’t just keep on doing this.” Parker denied that the terrorist attacks could be portrayed as a response to British foreign policy.



The anniversary falls at a time of heightened alert after the rise of Islamic State.



In a statement, the Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, said: “Today is a day to remember and reflect. To remember those whose lives were taken from them, the hundreds of people injured and caught up in the horrific carnage, and all those people whose loved ones never returned home.



“It is time to reflect upon our city, how strongly we came together to stand up to the threat we faced, and to send a message to terrorists that London was, and continues to be, strong, united and vibrant.”



His staff on duty that day would never forget “running towards scenes of horror that were unimaginable”.



Hogan-Howe added: “We will never, ever be complacent. While I hope that we will never need to deliver such a response again, if we do, we will be ready.”

