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Scenes of mass-panic as hundreds of screaming passengers fled from a suspected London Underground suicide bomber just two weeks after the July 7 attacks have been shown in court for the first time.
CCTV camera footage played at the trial of the alleged July 21 bombers today showed passengers banging on the windows of a Victoria Line train, screaming and shouting as they tried to escape an apparent explosion when their train entered Warren Street tube station.
The panic happened after Yassin Omar, 26, from New Southgate in north London, botched his attempt to cause mass-murder on the northbound stretch of the line when his explosive device failed to detonate, the prosecution claim.
As his detonator went off, the court heard there was a large bang, which caused terror amongst passengers and Mr Omar's rucksack to split open — but the failure of the explosive device to ignite meant there were no casualties.
When the train pulled up at Warren Street frantic passengers spilled from the second carriage of the train. Meanwhile Mr Omar placed his bag on the floor of the train, ran up an escalator and out of the station, barging past passengers as he did so.
He is one of six defendants who are on trial at Woolwich Crown Court charged with conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to cause explosions likely to endanger life, which the prosecution alleges were designed to be perpetrated in a series of coordinated explosions on July 21, 2005.
David Johnson, the manager of the train, told the court he had never seen public panic on such a scale.
The court heard that Mr Johnson was standing on the northbound platform at Warren Street as the train holding Mr Omar pulled in just after 12.30pm.
"I could see that all the passengers were on their feet. They were all trying to get out of the second carriage and were banging on the windows of the train," Mr Johnson told the court.
"A mad rush ensued and there were approximately 300 people running over each other to get out. I can honestly say I have not seen people panicking like this before.
"I was shouting: 'Whats happened, what’s happened?’ But everyone was screaming and shouting."
The court heard that several passengers described the acrid burning smell of what they thought was a bomb, while others spotted Mr Omar with a large hole in the back of his shirt and began to panic.
Max Hill, junior prosecuting counsel, read the statement of Karolin Starzymska, who was in the same carriage as Mr Omar when his bag exploded.
"She heard what sounded like a bomb. She felt lots of sand hit her and smelt burning. She thought it was rubber," he said.
Ms Starzymska saw Mr Omar jump in the air when the explosion went off and then run away from a rucksack oozing with a sticky yellow substance, Mr Hill added: "The man ran towards the carriage in front, he ran in the same direction as 40 people trying to get out of the carriage."
In the moments after the denator went off, passengers described Mr Omar frantically rubbing himself down before joining the rush out of the station. CCTV footage showed him running up two sets of escalators before leaping a luggage barrier.
"I thought he was a fare evader," said Richard Rotimi, a London Underground employee.
The court then heard from Cumhur Mehmet, a chef in the Granby Grill, a cafe often used by taxi drivers. He said a man matching Mr Omar's description burst into his kitchen asking for a glass of water. He took two, using the first to wash his face and drinking the second.
"I asked him who he was and he said there was a bomb scare at Warren Street station," Mr Mehmet told the court. It was then that he noticed a large L-shaped tear in the man's clothing. The alleged bomber then asked for a taxi and left.
Omar’s escape, Warren Street station was evacuated and specialist police officers dressed in chemical and biological protective suits investigated the train, the court heard. A gelatinous mass was found on the floor of the second carriage, with bits of plastic and debris scattered nearby.
A rucksack lay next to it, containing two shirts, a stick of deodorant and aftershave. Officers also found a DVD case for the Hollywood film Meet The Fockers.
Mr Omar along with Ramzi Mohammed, 25, of North Kensington, west London; Muktar Said Ibrahim, 29, of Stoke Newington, north London; Manfo Kwaku Asiedu, 33, of no fixed address; Hussain Osman, 28, of no fixed address; and Adel Yahya, 24, of High Road, Tottenham, north London, deny the charges.
The trial continues.
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