7/7 survivor found friend’s body

Thirteen people were killed by the Tavistock Square bomber Hasib Hussain

A survivor of the 7 July bus bombing broke down as she told the inquests how she found the body of a friend who died in the attack.

Camille Scott-Bradshaw, from Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire, was blown out of the bus and onto the road by the force of the blast.

Afterwards, she said she recognised the body of colleague Marie Hartley from her hair and a bracelet on her wrist.

A total of 52 people died in four suicide attacks in London in 2005.

Ms Scott-Bradshaw and Ms Hartley had travelled to the capital for a conference when they were caught up in the bombing of the number 30 bus in Tavistock Square.

Giving evidence by video link, she told the inquest she had felt “uneasy” when a fellow passenger mentioned there had been an explosion on the Underground, but “didn’t for one minute think that it would affect me”.

Nevertheless, she decided to send a text message to her partner and colleagues to tell them she was safe.

Moments later, 18-year-old suicide bomber Hasib Hussain detonated his device.

“I kept thinking, it’s a bomb, a bomb, a bomb has gone off, but I couldn’t see anything,” she said.

“My eyes were just black and I just felt like I was floating through the air.”

Ms Scott-Bradshaw said she began searching for Ms Hartley, 34, in the courtyard of the nearby British Medical Association building.

“I asked people if they knew where Marie was… I just remember looking over and I think, in the corner, there were bodies… and I could see Marie. I just knew it was Marie.

“Then someone came along and put a sheet over her. I knew it was Marie because I could see her hair, her bracelet and her arms.”

Ms Scott-Bradshaw suffered severe leg injuries and damage to her hearing, but told the inquest she was “very, very lucky” to escape the bombing with her life.

Another of those giving evidence on Monday was Anthony Stavely, who was driving through Tavistock Square when the blast happened.

Speaking outside the court afterwards, he explained what he had witnessed: “A black flash, smoke going up in the air… then debris coming down and quietness afterwards.

“I got out of the car and everything was very quiet, and there were some bodies lying in the street in front of me.”

In total, 13 people were killed by the Tavistock Square bomber.

The inquests continue.

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