Story highlights
NEW: "They are still with us," says survivor at a Hyde Park service remembering 52 who died
Britain pauses for a moment of silence to remember those killed by bombers on July 7, 2005
Survivors, families and first responders take part in a cathedral service
Ten years have passed since four coordinated bomb attacks tore apart subway trains and a bus in central London, killing 52 people and injuring hundreds more.
The United Kingdom marked the somber anniversary Tuesday with a national minute of silence. Londoners stood, heads bowed, in memory of those lost and laid flowers by London Underground stations and in the square where the bus bomb exploded.
Buses and trains also came to a halt, where possible, for the moment’s silence in recognition of the losses suffered on the public transit network.
A formal service of commemoration was held at the landmark St. Paul’s Cathedral, bringing together survivors of the blasts, the families of those killed and first responderswho worked to help those trapped in the tangled wreckage, not knowing if more bombs might explode.
The bishop of London, the Right Rev. Richard Chartres, said it would have been easy for the shock after the bombings to erupt into anger, but this didn’t happen. “London had been attacked, and our unity was in our grieving,” he said.
Terror on the Tube: Londoners remember 7/7 bombings
Prince Andrew and London Mayor Boris Johnson were also present for the service, which included reflections on each of the four bombing sites.
Aaron Grant-Booker, a young Londoner, said: “When four bombs exploded on 7 July 2005, lives were destroyed and the flame of hope faltered for what seemed like an eternal moment.
“For many people, nothing was the same again and yet everything was the same because the good which is in Londoners and the countless visitors whom they host at any given moment is not erased by hatred or threat but – rather – is fostered to produce a harvest of hope for each generation.”
‘They will never beat us’
The capital’s Hyde Park, where a memorial to those killed on July 7, 2005, stands, was the focus of two ceremonies.
Prime Minister David Cameron and Johnson laid wreaths there Tuesday morning in a commemoration timed to coincide with the detonation of the first device.
And Prince William attended an afternoon service at the memorial – made up of 52 tall stainless steel pillars, each representing one of the victims.
Survivors and witnesses to the horror were among who spoke at the open air service, more intimate than that at St. Paul’s Cathedral.
Paul Dadge, who was photographed helping one of the injured passengers in what became an iconic image, told those gathered that although terrorism had the power to destroy individual lives, it would never win.
“They will never beat us, and I know that is right even after the terrible loss of life in Tunisia, when we could all begin to doubt if we wanted,” he said, referring to the June 26 attack on a Tunisian beach hotel in which 38 people died.
“They won’t beat us because there’s simply no point at which we will ever surrender to terrorism,” he said. “That’s not the spirit we saw on July 7, that’s not the spirit we’ve ever seen, that’s not the spirit we will ever see.”
Esther Hyman, whose sister Miriam Hyman died on the bus that was blown up in Tavistock Square, said her family – which set up a charitable foundation in Miriam’s memory – had got through its loss by relinquishing the need to feel negative emotions such as hatred, anger or bitterness.
Survivor Tim Coulson concluded by reading out the names of all those killed.
“They are still with us,” he said. “They are in our hearts, they are in our homes, and they are inspirational to us even though we no longer see them. We will never forget. We cannot.”
Survivor’s story
Earlier, the start of play at London’s iconic Wimbledon tennis tournament was delayed by 45 minutes to allow spectators and players to observe the moment’s silence.
First responders, including London’s Metropolitan Police and the London Fire Brigade, also marked the anniversary.
The bombings happened the day after the International Olympic Committee announced London would be hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2012.
Martine Wright, who lost both legs in the blast near Aldgate Station, told CNN how she recalled a white light in front of her eyes and the feeling of being shaken from side to side as the bomb exploded.
“I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t move myself, and then I sort of looked up and all I could see was this metal, which was actually the corner of the Tube, that had buckled from the explosion. It looked like it wasgoing down into the ground, but it wasn’t. It was going into my legs,” she said.
Now an inspirational speaker and Paralympian who competed at the London 2012 Games, she credits her survival to an off-duty police officer who happened to be on the same train and was the first person to render aid.
London’s 7/7 bombings: On the terrorists’ trail
‘Walk together’ call
The bombings remain the deadliest terrorist attack ever in Britain.
The capital was thrown into chaos as the bombs were set off that July day during the morning rush hour on three subway trains and a bus. Fifty-six people were killed, including the four Islamist suicide bombers, and more than 770 were wounded.
The men responsible were ringleader Mohammed Sadique Khan, 30; Shahzad Tanweer, 22; Hasib Mir Hussain, 18; and Germaine Lindsay, 19.
Ten years on, the devastation has not been forgotten, but what so many survivors and rescue workers also remember is the solidarity that followed.
Using the hashtag #walktogether, a British think tank – backed by faith leaders and survivors – called on commuters all over Britain to get off public transit a stop earlier than usual Tuesday morning and walk the last leg of their journey together in a show of unity.
It recalls how so many Londoners walked home from their workplaces on the day of the bombings after the public transit network was shut down.
CNN’s Kellie Morgan contributed to this report.
