Footage shows panic in “bombing” on London Tube

Closed circuit television pictures released on Tuesday showed panic erupting on a London underground train when prosecutors say a bomber tried to blow it up two weeks after 2005 attacks killed 52 commuters.

British police released the images of passengers fleeing and defendant Ramzi Mohammed throwing down a backpack and racing through an Underground station, after the footage was played at the long-awaited trial of Mohammed and five others in London.

The six men deny conspiracy to murder and cause explosions, in what prosecutors say was a plot to repeat the worst peacetime bombings in London’s history, two weeks after the July 7, 2005 attacks on three trains and a bus.

The silent footage shows passengers fleeing to another carriage after an apparent bang, while Mohammed, in a distinctive dark New York sweatshirt, stands up at one end of the underground train car with a large pack on his back.

One passenger, firefighter Angus Campbell, remains at the opposite end of the train car, gesturing furiously at Mohammed, who appears to be shouting and gesturing back.

As the train pulls into the station, Mohammed flings down the pack and flees with Campbell in pursuit. Footage shows him sprinting through the station, his New York shirt clearly visible.

Campbell told Woolwich Crown Court that he had initially stayed in the train car when the other passengers ran out, because he wanted to help another passenger, Nadia Baro, a young mother who had trouble fleeing with a small child in a buggy.

Prosecutors say the defendants targeted three Underground trains and a bus on July 21, just like the bombers who struck on July 7. They had been planning the attacks for months, but their plans failed because they did not mix their explosives properly.

The defendants all deny they intended to kill or cause explosions. The trial continues.

Copyright © 2006 Reuters