All Duke students and faculty participating in the Duke in London Drama Program this summer are safe and accounted for after four blasts exploded in the city Thursday morning. Duke students studying at the London School of Economics were also unharmed.
Director of the Office of Study Abroad Margaret Riley said even though there is no way to fully account for students not participating in a Duke program, she has not heard of any Duke student harmed in the attacks.
Blasts detonated along three subway lines and on one double-decker bus Thursday, killing more than 50 people and harming hundreds more. A group calling itself the Secret Group of Al Qaeda’s Jihad in Europe claimed responsibility for the attacks in a Thursday Internet posting.
The Russell Square tube stop, where one of the bombs exploded, was the stop closest to the site where the Duke’s drama program is housed.
By 8 a.m. EST Thursday morning, the University’s study abroad office had sent an e-mail to top administrators confirming that everyone in the program was safe.
John Clum, professor in the Department of Theater Studies who is teaching in the London drama program, sent an e-mail to the parents of the Duke students after the attacks.
“I have spent much of the day with your sons and daughters who are safe in their residence hall, which is in a relatively secluded neighborhood,” he wrote, adding that classes continued as scheduled Thursday. “We will do all we can to ensure the safety of your fine sons and daughters.”
The Associated Press reported that bodies of 49 people have been recovered, but officials warned the number would increase in the coming days. Hundreds of individuals were treated for serious and minor injuries after the attacks, and several bodies are still reported missing.
Overall, only four Americans were among the injured, U.S. State Department spokesperson Tom Casey told The AP. Kathleen and Emily Benton, two sisters from Knoxville, Tenn., were injured in one of the blasts. Katie Benton is a student at the University of Tennessee, and Emily is a student at Pellissippi State Technical Community College. The names of the two other Americans have not been released.
Matt Hoffman, a Duke junior studying at the London School of Economics, was one of several students affected by the attacks. He said he was near one of the locations of the blasts when it occurred.
“I was walking... as we heard the bus bomb go off a few hundred meters away,” he said in an online correspondence.
Hoffman added that the London residents are proving very brave in the aftermath of the attacks.
“In general, the city’s reaction [has] been the silver lining to this tragedy,” he said. “Nine hours after the attacks, people were packing the pubs, going on with their daily routine in defiance of the attacks.”
He noted that even though his classes continued Thursday, they were cancelled Friday due to transportation problems.
“[After the attack,] I dropped by a computer and e-mailed my mother,” Hoffman said. “I was just very, very thankful that the people around me were not panicking and, in effect, helped me take the ‘terror’ out of terrorism.”
Sarah Kwak contributed to this article.
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