AROUND 50 people got off the bus bombed on July 7 2005 moments before the blast, an inquest has heard. After the bus was diverted by police responding to the Tube bombings, Stratford bus driver George Psaradakis told his passengers that some might be better walking.

AROUND 50 people got off the bus bombed on July 7 2005 moments before the blast, an inquest heard today.

After the bus was diverted by police responding to the Tube bombings, Stratford bus driver George Psaradakis told his passengers that some might be better walking.

“Lots of people got off the bus,” he told the inquest at the Royal Courts of Justice. Moments later, bomber Hasib Hussain set off the device that killed himself and 13 others.

Mr Psaradakis described seeing the road strewn with body parts after the blast.

“I kept looking to see if there was anybody I could help but again people were dismembered and all dying,” he told the inquest.

He added: “Seeing my passengers in such a state really shocked me, I was overwhelmed.”

Outside the court Mr Psaradakis read a statement in which he said: “When I am asked to talk about (what happened on) July 7, what immediately comes to my mind is all those innocent fellow citizens who lost their lives in such a gruesome and barbaric way while simply going about their legitimate business. I remember the innocent men and women who suffered such horrific injuries.”

More than 100 people were injured in the bus bombing in Tavistock Square, and among the 14 who died was bank worker Shahara Islam, 20, from Plaistow.

Mr Psaradakis said he had also seen that day, in people’s response to the bombings, “supreme human solidarity, unselfish altruism and solicitous unity from the citizens of our glorious capital.”