By James Hore and David LennardA WOMAN who was just a carriage away from one of the explosions that ripped through a London Underground train has told of her amazing escape.

By James Hore and David Lennard

A WOMAN who was just a carriage away from one of the explosions that ripped through a London Underground train has told of her amazing escape.

Tanya Alleway, from Colchester, was heading to work on the Circle Line when the blast between Liverpool Street and Aldgate hit her train.

The 31-year-old said she normally travelled in the front carriages, which were hardest hit by the bomb that caused seven confirmed fatalities.

But the accountant escaped without any injuries and was able to walk away from the incident after getting into the third carriage from the front.

Mrs Alleway said: “I got on a carriage back from where I would usually be and the train started on its way to Aldgate.

“After the explosion smoke poured out and I thought the fire would spread or the smoke was going to be too much and I was panicky at that point.

“It was absolutely terrifying, everybody was absolutely terrified, you could hear the screaming from the carriages in front because that is where the explosion happened.”

Speaking with her husband, Howard, alongside her at Colchester's North Station last night, Mrs Alleway said she could not shut her eyes without picturing the horrific scenes.

“People were trying to open the doors. I thought the train was going to turn over, it was general chaos and I thought I was going to die, I thought I was going to be engulfed and did not think I was going to get out,” she recalled.

“There was a lot of noise. We thought something had fell on the train, it does not occur to you that it could be a bomb.”

Mrs Alleway said it had felt like about 15 to 20 minutes before the first people came to the scene to start letting passengers out.

The walking wounded and other passengers made their way up the track past the train where Mrs Alleway saw a dead body and other people severely injured people before reaching the emergency service workers.

“I was shaky, just like a zombie - you see these things on the news, but don't expect to be in it, but I was in it and it was horrible,” she said.

“I don't know how I will deal with this. When I shut my eyes I see the body on the tracks and people with blood streaming down their faces and I don't know what to do. I hope I can sleep and not see them.”

Mr Alleway had been at an archaeology conference at the British Museum and spent two hours attempting to get to his wife, but could not get through the Metropolitan Police's cordons around the station.

But after an emotional reunion the couple walked to Stratford Station before getting a taxi to Ilford and finally a train to Shenfield before getting on their final journey back to Colchester.

Meanwhile, Claudia Bagley, 18, from Carlton Colville, who is studying for a dance degree at the London School of Dance, was at the King's Cross underground station when the explosion happened, plunging it into darkness.

She managed to escape without serious injury, but described the panic and fear when she telephoned her parents, Ron and Anita.

Mr Bagley said: “She was deep underground when the explosion happened and said everything went dark and people began screaming in absolute panic.

“The Tannoy message continually said there was an emergency and urged people to evacuate the area, but a lot of people found great difficulty walking up at least two flights of motionless elevators.

“She said it was only too obvious that many people had been seriously hurt and Claudia herself was continually shaking as she was so frightened.”