Missing people sought after bombs

BBC NEWS
Missing people sought after bombs

Relatives and friends of those missing since the London bomb attacks are continuing their desperate searches.

The Scotland Yard casualty hotline on 0870 156 6344 has received more than 120,000 calls.

A 24-hour Family Assistance Centre has opened at the Queen Mother Sports Centre on Vauxhall Bridge Road, near Victoria station in London.

Police have confirmed that 49 people died in the four blasts, 700 were injured and at least 25 are missing.

The reception centre opened in central London on Saturday afternoon to assist those still looking for friends and family members and for them to provide additional information to aid identification of the missing and dead.


It is staffed by social services, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and WRVS to give practical and emotional support to concerned friends and relatives.

Posters have appeared around the capital and people searching for news have gone to the four blast sites, displaying photos of the missing.

Nearly 60 family liaison officers have been allocated to the relatives of some of the missing and dead throughout the UK.

Metropolitan Police Chief Sir Ian Blair said those who had been killed and injured included people from Australia, China, Portugal, Poland and Sierra Leone.

Hospital search

The families and friends of those missing have been going to hospitals, hoping doctors and nurses would recognise their pictures.

BBC News correspondent Jane Hughes reported that there are only a couple of people being treated at the Royal London Hospital who have not been identified.

She said that fewer people are now making "the awful pilgrimage from one hospital to another" in their search for loved ones.

The family and friends of Laura Webb, 29, have looked for her at various hospitals.

Her brother David Webb, 38, said: "We are very upset about her disappearance, and all the options go through your mind."

Her boyfriend, Chris Driver, 28, said she would have taken a train from King's Cross to the Paddington area.

For relatives of Martine Wright, 32, who is thought to have been on a Liverpool Street to Aldgate Train at about 0900 BST, the search paid off when she was located in a London hospital, although in a critical condition.

But for many others the agony of not knowing goes on.

Yvonne Nash, 30, of Enfield, north London, fears partner Jamie Gordon, 30, was killed by the bomb that destroyed a bus in Tavistock Square.

"I just have to find him. I have to know what happened. You cannot sleep, cannot eat when you are that worried about somebody," she said.

Nazmul Hasan, 25, was trying to find his niece Akhter Islam, 20, from Plaistow, east London, saying she was on the Circle line going through Liverpool Street at the time of the blasts.

"Her mother and father have fallen to pieces over this," he said.

Meanwhile Trevor Ellery, from Southampton, Hampshire, has travelled to London with his 19-year-old son Timothy and their local vicar in a bid to find his son Richard.

Richard had texted his parents at 0830 BST on Thursday as he travelled from Ipswich into Liverpool Street Station on his way to work Kensington.

I just hope that everyone is praying for her wellbeing and that she will return home in good health
Shamsul Hasan, Shahara's father

In a statement the family said: "We have tried all means of getting in touch with Richard and would welcome news from anyone who may have seen him or knows where he is."

Friends' bid

And friends of Anthony Fatayi-William have been searching hospitals since he disappeared on his way to work in central London.

He is thought to have tried to make his way to work by bus after delays on the Northern Line prevented him getting to his job near Liverpool Street station.

His friend Amrit Walia said: "We understand the police have a job to, but it is agonising to sit and wait, which is all they have advised us to do."

Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell has been put in charge of government support for the families of victims of the London bombings.

Mrs Jowell, who was made responsible for supporting British victims of the September 11 attacks and the Asian tsunami, has already liaised with the Metropolitan Police and voluntary agencies as part of her role.

Home Secretary Charles Clarke said people were desperately trying to help.

Meanwhile floral tributes have been laid at King's Cross station, where at least 21 people have lost their lives.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/4666679.stm