When Clare Lascelles heard the rumble of media helicopters competing with the sound of her professor’s voice during a lecture July 7, she just assumed it was a “busy day” in London.
It wasn’t until the junior from Atlanta, Ga., who is studying at the London School of Economics for the summer, went to grab a drink during a class break that she learned four explosions had rocked the city in the busy morning hours.
A woman on an elevator told Lascelles a bomb had exploded in the subway. The woman had also seen a double-decker bus with its top blown off that morning.
For Lascelles, the news hit close to home.
“I’m actually in a global politics in the Middle East class, so it was all so real—the class was becoming all too real,” she said.
Among classmates from several countries—including England, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates—Lascelles said the American students could not help but recall Sept. 11, 2001 and react with mixed emotions.
“The Americans sort of felt bad, like wherever we go these sorts of things happen,” she said. “It was almost like a feeling of camaraderie, like, ‘Oh now you know how it feels.... We’re not alone, we’re not the only ones.’”
Lascelles was one of many Duke students in London during the bombings. Director of the Office of Study Abroad Margaret Riley said all students and professors in the Duke in London Drama Program—the only Duke-sponsored summer program in the city—have been accounted for and are unharmed.
Though she said there is no way for the University to fully account for students like Lascelles who are studying or working independently in London over the summer, Riley said she has received no reports of students being injured in the attacks.
The blasts killed more than 50 people and wounded 700. Four bombers, possibly linked to al Qaeda, are believed to have died in the attacks. A fifth man, who studied chemical engineering at North Carolina State University, was arrested in Cairo based on suspicions he helped build the bombs.
Junior Meredith Musselman, a participant in the Duke drama program, said she and several friends were standing just blocks away from one of the bombs when it exploded.
Sophomore Edward Wardle, another member of the drama program, said he was thankful he and other Duke students living in the city are safe.
“My heart goes out to the families of all the victims; it’s a blessing to be alive, because it could have easily been one of us in harm’s way,” Wardle wrote in an e-mail.
Although classes continued as scheduled the day of the bombings, Lascelles said LSE would not allow some students out of their dormitories and told all students to remain on campus. Attendance was taken in class, and free phone service was offered to students so they could contact their families.
“It was five in the morning in America so a lot of kids were waking up their parents—who had no idea what was going on,” Lascelles explained.Despite initial confusion and precautions, Lascelles said London quickly returned to normal in the attacks’ aftermath. She saw people sight-seeing near the Houses of Parliament the afternoon of July 7—albeit under the watchful eyes of extra police.
Lascelles even took a train out of the city the day after the bombings and said she felt no fear.
“I don’t think any of us have any apprehensions about going about in the city or taking public transportation,” Lascelles said.
“My feeling about the whole situation is that it largely is silly to be afraid because once it has happened, it’s not going to happen again. The safest day to take a trip on an airplane is the day after a crash because everything is in tip-top shape.”
Nonetheless, Lascelles said she and others in the city are surprised London was selected as the target of the attacks.
“London is the most international city in the world.... It’s one of the places where you wouldn’t expect it to happen because people get along so well; there are so many religions and ethnicities,” she explained.
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