Testimony Crowded, Noisy Control Room

The British government is conducting a formal inquiry into the investigation that followed the July 2005 London transport bombings, in particular the killing by police special firearms unit of Jean Charles de Menezes on a subway train. Testimony so far concludes that the command center at Scotland Yard was overcrowded with officers, who had great difficulty hearing radio transmissions from those in the field. A surveillance team saw Menezes leaving a house linked to one of the suspects, but failed to confirm he was one of the wanted terrorists–he was not. As Menezes boarded a subway train to work, he was approached, detained and shot to death by the team. Read an account of the inquiry testimony here.