Quick-thinking AP Reader Bettina Strenske was among the first photographers to capture the scenes following yesterday?s attacks on central London.
The BBC published a number of Bettina?s pictures, one of which (pictured right) shows the chaotic scenes on the streets around Euston Station as thousands of commuters are forced to abandon London transport and continue their journey on foot. Another image shows passengers evacuating the tube.
Bettina – a photo enthusiast who plans to carve out a career in photography – told us she used a Canon EOS-1Ds digital SLR to capture the images.
At first it was just another ?bad day on the Underground? for Bettina who recalls yesterday?s events in a message on AP?s internet forum pages, posted this morning. She wrote: ?Euston underground evacuation from the Northern Line City Branch was mad. The escalators had stopped and everyone squeezed into the corridor? Only when Euston mainline station was evacuated a short while later did it become apparent that something really serious had happened.?
Later, she saw a casualty – an elderly man wrapped in a ?Hilton Hotel? blanket. ?He was very quiet and when I asked him whether we could do anything, he just pulled the blanket over his head. Phones didn?t work? One guy got a text message from Reuters and he showed it around..?.
Bettina works as a secretary for a bank based at Canary Wharf. In September she plans to take a course on launching a career in photography.
Snapshots recorded by digital cameras and camera phones played a key role in providing many images used by the world?s media in their coverage of the aftermath of the explosions.
Bettina?s images are posted on the AP?s forum here
They can also be seen via https://news.bbc.co.uk/
