Witnesses have described the moment that bombs exploded at two Birmingham city centre pubs on the evening of 21 November 1974 during the inquest into the IRA attack.

A hearing on Friday heard how people were enjoying after-work drinks with friends at the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town when the explosions occurred a few minutes apart, killing 21 people and injuring more than 200.

In a police statement from the time of the bombings read to the jury, Mary Jones, the wife of David Jones, the licensee of the Mulberry Bush, said she remembered chatting to a group of regulars including Stanley Bodman, John Rowlands, Michael Beasley, James Caddick and John Clifford Jones, all of whom were killed.

“Stan Bodman asked for a pint and I returned behind the bar to start to pour pints for that round,” she said. “I had only just started to pour it when the flash came. I was thrown to the ground behind the bar and everything went into darkness. I didn’t hear a bang.”

The remnants of the Mulberry Bush in Birmingham, one of the two busy pubs where bombs exploded on 21 November 1974. Photograph: PA

Beasley had given her a lucky pixie charm earlier that night that he had found on the bus. “I still have that pixie and carry it with me as I class it as a lucky omen after what happened that night,” the statement read.

In another statement read to the inquest, Dorothy Clark, who worked behind the bar at the Mulberry Bush, described the aftermath of the blast: “I do remember seeing lots of bodies. The best description would be to liken it to a tunnel with lots of bodies inside.”

Giving evidence to the court, 70-year-old Raymond McVeighty said he had been having a drink with friends by the window of the pub when the bomb went off. “I remember bodies, the smell of burning and I remember screams and moans,” he said. “I think I tried to pull some people out and by then the emergency services were on the scene and a fireman told me to leave.

“I will never forget that evening. My recollections are vivid, as you will gather, and I count myself, unlike the other unfortunate people who are subject of this inquest, as a very, very lucky and fortunate man.”

Paul Murphy, who was 17 and in the Tavern in the Town drinking with friends, said one of his first thoughts after the blast was that his father was going to kill him for being in a pub. He suffered 33% burns and all of the muscles in his right arm were lacerated.

“The blast had blown most of your clothes off, no hair, no eyebrows, your private parts are covered, because you’re wearing three layers,” he said. “Your socks were blown off to the level of your shoes. You’ve lost that much blood, it’s like when you step in a river, you’re squelching in your own blood.”

The inquest at the Birmingham civil justice centre heard on Thursday that on the night of the bombing, 135 city centre police officers had been deployed to the funeral of IRA member James McDade, who was killed while planting a bomb at the GPO telephone exchange in Coventry the week before. This left only 15 police officers on duty in the city centre.

On Friday the inquest heard that, despite receiving a call warning them of a bomb threat at the Rotunda building, where the Mulberry Bush was located, police made no attempt to clear the area or set up a cordon.

The inquest into the deaths caused by the bombs was initially opened in November 1974, but was adjourned to allow for a criminal investigation. In 1975, six men who became known as the Birmingham Six were convicted for the bombings, but were acquitted 16 years later.

Fresh inquests into the deaths were ordered in 2016, but were delayed by disputes about whether the hearings should examine who might be responsible for the bombings. The inquest is expected to last up to six weeks.