Witnesses tell of bomb panic

The huge bomb caused massive devastation

LONDON, England -- Shocked eyewitnesses to the London bomb blast told of the scenes of devastation and panic.

One said the explosion was "like an earthquake."

The Saab car at the centre of the suspected bomb investigation was said to have turned into a fireball and was left a smouldering wreck, barely recognisable as a vehicle.

Clouds of billowing smoke were sent out by the blast, which was reported to have been felt up to half a mile away, and all around the streets were covered with shards of broken glass.

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The Ealing Broadway area is a Mecca for young people from all over west London who are attracted to its various nightspots.

There are at least five pubs, several wine bars and cafes and two nightclubs in the area of the explosion.

CNN business writer Abid Ali, who lives in the area, said: "We had the windows open and it was almost like someone had sucked the air out of the room momentarily.

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"We live close to Heathrow Airport and our first thought was that a plane has dropped out of the sky."

Restaurant employee Samantha Illing, 20, describing the moment the explosion happened, said: "There was a car in flames. It was just like a huge fireball in the middle of the road. There was a really strong smell, a pungent smell of gunpowder.

"Windows in nearby shops were all shattered and The Bell pub was damaged. We think some of the people inside The Bell were injured.

"Luckily everybody from our bar was inside having a drink," she told the Press Association.

Marie Wilkins, 24, said there was no warning, just a "huge explosion" which immediately caved in the windows of the All Bar One.

Eyewitness Boo Abbas, 43, from Hanwell, west London, was eating in Cafe Bianco in Bond Street, Ealing, 200 yards from the blast.

He told the Press Association: "Everything shook and I felt the wind through my hair and the vibration. I knew immediately it must be a bomb, it was terrifying. The windows shook."

Student Jagpreet Sidhu, 22, from south east London, also saw the bomb go off.

He said: "I felt a huge shock wave then literally saw a roll of flame coming towards us. All the shop windows smashed. We ducked and were thrown to the floor."

Nikki Cox, 16, said: "All the glass from the shop windows just fell to the ground and people ran out of the pub. It was just a mass of panic."

Darryn Crout, manager of the Hogshead pub a few hundred metres from the blast, said: "The police started arriving 10 or 15 minutes before it went off.

"I looked out of the window to see what was going on and I was leaning out as the bomb went off.

"It was like an earthquake. The sheer force of it knocked me back.

"The police told us to go to the back of the pub. They said two policewomen had been very close to it when it went off and sheltered in a doorway, and the engine from the car landed in front of them."

Police sealed off a huge area around the scene of the blast

There were 150 people in the Townhouse pub when the bomb went off. The pub was open late for a karaoke party.

Danielle Nelson, 19, a student from Northolt, was singing when the bomb went off.

She said: "We heard a massive explosion. I looked round and saw a huge ball of flame and the others in the pub shouted that they thought a bomb had gone off."

Malcolm Peek, 22, was in the vicarage at Ealing Christ the Saviour Church, in The Broadway, when he heard the explosion.

"There was nothing left of the car. It was just four wheels and a pile of flames," he told the BBC.

"All the windows in the area were blown in. There was glass everywhere. The doors of the shops were blown in and the doors of Lloyds Bank had been blown right off.

"There were a handful of people standing around who had injuries from flying glass. A lot of people were in shock.

"If it had been a nice evening this place would have been packed. It's a blessing that it rained today otherwise we would have had a much more serious situation."

Alan Joyce, who was drinking in a nearby pub at the time of the explosion, told Sky News: "It took me off my chair. "I ran out of the pub to see what happened. The whole place was just chaos."

The area was cordoned off

Several witnesses reported seeing distraught people staggering away after the blast.

"I ran out and people were running up the street," resident Simon Offer told Sky.

"Some people were on the floor, some were having panic attacks.

Police will also be talking to local residents who may hold the key to the identity of the terrorists.

One woman said she saw a car repeatedly drive up and down the road before two men jumped out and leapt into another car -- two hours before the blast.

She was on her balcony overlooking Ealing Broadway, her friend told the radio station London Live.

"My friend said she was on her balcony when she saw this car driving up and down about 10 times in her road," she said.

"Then these two guys with blond hair were just running and got into another car.

"She said she thought she saw them carrying walkie talkies."