Tuesday, January 23, 2007

A young mother has told a court she thought she was going to die when an alleged plotter tried to detonate a bomb on a Tube train on 21 July 2005

BBC News:



Woolwich Crown Court heard Nadia Baro, travelling with her nine-month-old son, was in "a panic" as an explosive mix came out of Ramzi Mohammed's rucksack.

The court was also told how firefighter Angus Campbell confronted Mr Mohammed on the northbound Northern Line train.

Six men deny conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions.

They are Manfo Asiedu, Muktar Ibrahim, Hussein Osman, Yassin Omar, Mr Mohammed and Adel Yahya.

Ms Baro told the court: "I was in such a panic. I did not know how a bomb worked and I thought we were going to die now."

She said she noticed the person next to her was wearing a rucksack then she heard a bang and something came out of the bag and fell onto the floor.

Ms Baro described the substance coming from the rucksack as being like a sponge or a foam with "bits of nails on it", and she could smell something "like the smell of oil".

As CCTV footage shown in court reached 1225 BST, Mr Campbell, 43, described what happened on the train which was between Stockwell and Oval stations.

He said: "There was an explosion. It was loud. My first memory was being cowed. I was crouched in my seat and I remember my arm being over my head.

"I remember looking up and I recall a man I know now as Mr Mohammed was screaming and shouting and there was smoke issuing from his back."

After leading Ms Baro away, Mr Campbell returned to where Mr Mohammed was standing.

He said: "I was shouting 'what have you done, what have you done?'"

He said he saw a sponge-like debris lying smoking on the Tube carriage's floor, and shouted to Mr Mohammed "what is that?".

Mr Mohammed replied "this is bread", which Mr Campbell said seemed "nonsensical" to him.

Moments later he pulled the emergency alarm lever and the train stopped at Oval station.

Mr Campbell said he shouted "don't open the doors" to the driver but seconds later the doors opened and Mr Mohammed ran off.

Mr Campbell and Ms Baro were among up to 30 passengers on the train when Mr Mohammed allegedly tried to detonate an explosive mix of hydrogen peroxide and chapatti flour.

The court heard that several members of the public gave chase to Mr Mohammed, including a 71-year-old former soldier who pursued him up an escalator.

'I thought we would die'

Firefighter 'confronted 21/7 Tube bomber'

'Bomb plotter took GNVQ in chemistry'

Witness was unwitting helper with 21/7 purchase

'Suspect tricked me into helping him buy bomb chemical'

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