Victims of last year’s London suicide bomb attacks were let down by poor emergency planning, a British government report said on Friday.
The Home Office (interior ministry) report said anti-terrorism plans failed to deal adequately with the aftermath of the attacks by four British Islamists on London’s transport network on July 7 which killed 52 commuters.
Victims and families did not get the support they required, a lack of emergency facilities contributed to survivors’ distress and police could not cope with the number of calls from worried relatives. More than 700 people were wounded.
However, the professionalism and bravery of the emergency workers is praised and meant many lives were saved, said the report, titled Lessons Learned, which is based on interviews with survivors and families of the bereaved.
‘More could have been done’
Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell admitted mistakes had been made following the first suicide attacks in western Europe and vowed the government would learn the lessons.
“It is clear that more could have been done to support all those who were caught up in the attacks -- on the day and in the weeks and months that followed,” she said.
In the confusion following the bomb attacks on three underground trains and a bus, many of the injured had to make their own way home without receiving any medical treatment.
Concerned relatives had to trawl hospitals with photographs looking for missing family members.
No full public inquiry
Many survivors argue that only a full public inquiry could address all the issues. The government has refused to hold such an inquiry, arguing it would distract the security services.
“Though the members of the emergency services and police and the ambulance dispatchers and the hospital workers, and many other ordinary people were heroic, angelic, it was still a mess, especially afterwards -- and we still need an independent inquiry,” survivor Rachel North wrote on her Internet blog.
Ministers had been confident plans were in place to deal with any major attack and the emergency services had carried out a number of drills to prepare for such an eventuality.
The report called for the creation of a network of suitable emergency centers across the country, such as schools and churches, to deal with future incidents.
