London Bombings - your 7/7 stories

One commuter took a photograph on his phone as survivors walked through the tunnel to King's Cross Station

Ten years after experiencing the horror of the London bomb attacks, survivors of 7/7 share their accounts for the first time.

Sitara

"I remember the train I was on... I remember the papers with the news about the Olympics. I remember a bang."

Ten years ago I got on a tube train. It was a normal day for me. I was going to Holborn for a summer school at the London School of Economics, I wanted to change the world using the experiences from this project. I was 16.

I remember the train I was on, it was packed full of people, and I was writing my homework on the train. I was rushing it away because I wanted to spend more time resting at home. I remember the papers with the news about the Olympics. I remember a bang.

I remember the smoke and wondering if I could breathe and the panic in people's faces. I remember how people had to break the windows of the train to let air in.

There was very little communication between carriages, but I remember one thing. I remember screaming for help coming from the tunnel.

I remember 45 minutes feeling like the rest of my life. I cried, holding onto a railing, not talking to anyone, wanting people to talk to me, to help me.

I needed help. I needed to get out. No mobile phone signal. I was scared. I didn't know how to talk to anyone - 45 minutes later, we were told to walk along the tunnel, but the train lines were still on. I remember being so scared and walking tentatively down the tunnel.

As soon as I got to King's Cross I saw others around me, and walked home. Covered in soot and dirt, crying my eyes out, I ran home. I walked miles. It took two hours.

"I received no help that day and I still hate the tube, I hate small spaces and I can't stand BBQs."

I didn't even know it was a bomb, I thought it was a power surge. My mother greeted me at the door and let me in to watch the news. She returned to work later that day.

I went to the bathroom and only then did I notice the soot on my arms, legs, clothes and face.

I received no help that day and I still hate the tube, I hate small spaces and I can't stand BBQs.

I can only sleep in darkness, no faint lights because they remind me of the tunnels.

I thank the staff for all their support: tube workers, paramedics and police. I remember feeling not worthy of medical help and even now I still feel that - now suffering PTSD and severe anxiety and depression. I slipped through the cracks.

I wish I had sought help at the time, because right now, it still feels like it was yesterday.

• Read more stories of the 7/7 victims who just walked away

Karl Williams

Karl Williams was travelling in the same carriage as the bomber. Panic-stricken and in the dark, Karl held the hand of an unknown woman whom he credits with saving him.

He has spent the last 10 years looking for her in the hope that he can thank her personally for her support and reassurance.

Charles

"There was a deathly silence for about 30 seconds, then the most ghastly screaming."

I was in the Edgware Road train that was hit by the blast from the train coming the opposite way.

I was in the last carriage. When the bomb exploded I thought we had hit another train and my first thought was I don't want to burn to death.

There was a deathly silence for about 30 seconds, then the most ghastly screaming.

I took my shoe off and smashed the emergency box to get into the empty driver's compartment, then opened the door onto the track.

The compartment was not packed and having the door open to the track gave everybody the security of knowing there was a way out in the event of a secondary explosion.

I remember everyone being very calm and one family that stuck in my mind was a husband and wife and young son who had just arrived from Heathrow and were heading up north. A great first welcome to the UK.

"I don't talk about the events of 7/7 as I feel that so many people suffered great loss and hardship, and I wouldn't want to put myself in that bracket"

The paramedics arrived and checked us over and then led us through the mangled debris. We were then given a blanket and water and taken to the M&S store to be checked over again.

I was then released with no details taken and walked through the enormous crowd in Edgware Road.

I then walked to Marble Arch where I got a cab home. I have not been contacted since and felt for a while I was suffering from survivor guilt complex.

I don't talk about the events of 7/7 as I feel that so many people suffered great loss and hardship and I wouldn't want to put myself in that bracket. I don't feel traumatised by 7/7 now, but occasionally I can still hear those awful screams.