Driver who survived bus blast vows to work on

LONDON - The driver of a London double-decker bus survived and helped wounded and dying passengers when a blast ripped its roof off during Thursday's bomb attacks.

"I tried to help the poor people," the 49-year-old driver, who was not named, said on his company's website in his first public comments since the attack which killed 13 passengers on the bus.

"There were many injured people and at first I thought how am I alive, when everyone is dying around me?" he said.

"The police then had to take me away because they were concerned there might be further explosions."

The Number 30 bus was near Russell Square in central London after being diverted from its usual route because of people streaming out of underground railway stations hit by earlier bomb blasts on the underground railway network.

"Suddenly there was a bang, then carnage. Everything seemed to happen behind me," he said.

The explosions, which Britain says bore the hallmarks of the Islamic militant group al Qaeda, killed more than 50 people, police said.

The driver said he would not change jobs despite the danger.

"Myself and the other drivers in London have an important job and we are going to continue to do that job as best we can. We are going to continue our normal lives. We are not going to be intimidated," he said.

- REUTERS