A London underground employee has been awarded £4,000 in compensation by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority for the psychological trauma he suffered when he was involved in rescuing victims on the July 7th terrorist attacks in London. The man, Mr Bell, was a tube driver at the time of the attacks, and his train was used to evacuate passengers from Russell Square underground station.
56 people, including 4 suicide bombers, died in the attacks in 2005, and Mr Bell, who was on duty at the time, used his train to evacuate passengers from the site of one of the 3 underground bombs. He made a claim for compensation to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority but his application was initially denied on the grounds that he had not had a reasonable fear of immediate physical harm. However after he appealed the amount was increased to £4,000.
After receiving his award, Mr Bell spoke to the BBC about his experiences dealing with the aftermath of the 7th July attacks, he said: “It was horrendous, I helped with the evacuation of the station at Russell Square before the police arrived. Some of the passengers were in a terrible state. I’m not a hero, I did what I could to help, just like anyone would, but the events of that day will always be with me. I was off work for 11 months afterwards.
I couldn’t believe it when CICA said that because I was not at reasonable fear of immediate physical harm I was not entitled to compensation. I may not have sustained a physical injury but mentally the events of that day will never leave me. We had no idea how many bombs there were and now it is a constant fear whilst driving in the underground.”
For more information on the work of the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, and their role in providing compensation to the victims of crime, visit their website: http://www.cica.gov.uk/
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