Sticky tape and scrap wood used to help victims of 7/7 bus bomb

One badly-injured survivor was fitted with a makeshift splint made out of tape and pieces of wood found in the road as rescuers used whatever they could lay their hands on to move the wounded.

Suicide bomber Hasib Hussain, 18, from Holbeck, in Leeds, killed 13 people when he blew himself up on a number 30 bus in London's Tavistock Square on July 7, 2005.

He was the youngest of the four suicide attackers who claimed the lives of 52 people and injured hundreds more.

Pc Christopher Mitchell, one of the first police officers to reach the scene, described to the inquest yesterday how rescuers carried casualties into the courtyard of the headquarters of the British Medical Association (BMA), located next to the shattered bus.

Pc Mitchell recalled telling doctors who asked how they could assist, "Pick a casualty and see what you can do."

He also helped to move survivor Mark Beck, who lost his right leg in the blast, to a nearby hotel for treatment.

The officer said: "His leg was in quite a bad way. Somebody got hold of some Sellotape, we used Sellotape and some bits of wood we found on the road to make a splint and we Sellotaped his leg together."

Pc Mitchell, a former soldier, said he asked for all other buses in the area to be stopped and searched for explosives.

He feared further bombs could be primed to go off after Camille Scott-Bradshaw, one of those wounded in the blast, told him she saw a fellow passenger on the back of the bus "fiddling" with a package before the explosion.

The coroner, Lady Justice Hallett, paid tribute to Pc Mitchell. "No amount of training in the military or the police can prepare you for what confronted you on the streets of London that day. Despite the obvious risk to yourself, you did everything possible to save lives and to minimise injury.

"I have no doubt that your efforts and the efforts of your colleagues made a significant difference, and I commend you."

A GP who helped to treat the injured and dying was also praised for her "incredible job".

Dr Michelle Du-Feu happened to be travelling on another bus passing through Tavistock Square when Hussain detonated his device on the number 30. She immediately got off and rushed over to help the victims of the blast, the inquest heard.

Giving evidence by video-link, Dr Du-Feu became distressed as she recalled her efforts to save lives.

The coroner told her: "You did an incredible job on July 7 in the best traditions of the medical profession, and you did everything you could to save the badly injured. No one is surprised that you have tried to wipe the traumatic events from your mind."

A commuter said a policeman ordered him to leave the area because of the risk of a further blast as he tried to comfort a badly injured woman.

Richard Collins told the officer: "I can't just leave her, she's dying."

He went, not wanting to hinder the emergency services.

The coroner told him: "As members of the general public, I suspect we would all like to think that we would do what you did and run towards the scene to help rather than run away to safety.

"I'm not sure we all would react in the way you did."

The inquest at the Royal Courts of Justice in London continues today.