London to Glasgow, passing the suspects
Posted: Sunday, July 01, 2007 10:00 PM
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London, England
By Michelle Kosinski, NBC News Correspondent
At first sight of that flaming car, in television pictures trickling in from Scotland, the first hopeful thought was that it must have been some unfortunate accident. And that, at best. Or maybe one of those copycat acts that inexplicably arise when something horrible happens.
No. Within minutes, this appeared to be something more. And so started our journey to Glasgow in a hurry. A most futile rush, as London reacted to this, and its own, fear of continued attack.
A strange thing, to find traffic into Heathrow at an absolute standstill, for miles and miles. Every now and then we'd move a few car lengths in the pouring rain. The tension and worry on the faces in other cars was painfully obvious. Some were resorting to driving on the narrow shoulder of grass. It got them nowhere. As we drew closer, and the hours -- yes, hours -- ticked by, I contemplated several times jumping out of the car and just running the rest of the way to the terminal, but the rain was soaking and I would have had to run through a long tunnel. I should have. Heathrow had reacted quickly with increased security and closed roadways.
I, and my photographer Krzysztof, coming in from a different location, both missed the last flight out to Edinburgh, the nearest airport to Glasgow that was still open.
We looked at each other at the terminal, finally. What were we going to do? No more trains at 10 p.m. Our only choice: drive. More than seven hours. The case was developing rapidly in Scotland, even as we stood there.
So off we went, back in the traffic and up the length of England toward the border. More slow hours to tick by, to think about all that was going on around us. Our driver and Krzysztof discussed it in Polish. I eventually went to sleep in the back seat to the sound of the endless rain that has plagued the U.K. Its flooding was the big story here -- until now.
But somewhere during this long dreary night, on the M6, the very same highway we were driving -- two terror suspects were stopped by police, and arrested.
We were surprised. Some more to think about.
They could have been the people next to us at the gas station filling up, the couple that we smiled hello to, or the ones behind us in the convenience store, waiting patiently in line for more coffee for the road.
Were they making their escape as we sped toward their alleged work? As we and others stood, thinking our mundane thoughts: what route to take, what we had to do the next day, did they stand next to us, imagining what death they could bring to innocent families? Did we politely say "excuse me" to them, as we headed out the door?
Perhaps this is, at least remotely, how some in Florida felt, after realizing they'd been living among several of the 9/11 hijackers.
And as reports come now, that some of the five suspects might have been working as physicians in the region before this, more awful questions follow. Is it possible that the same ones trained to heal, save, protect, and "do no harm" could simultaneously be plotting the most effective, destructive modes to kill?
And as we go about our daily business, be it in London or Glasgow or New York or Peoria, how many might be out there?
Hope lies in people like the ambulance workers in central London last week who had their eyes wide open. They saw something unusual nearby, and though they were busy, they did something about it. They may have unknowingly saved dozens of lives.
John Reid, who lives only a few doors down from the house that two of these terror suspects may have rented recently, told us thoughtfully Sunday that nowadays we seem to be OK with not knowing who lives in our neighborhood, and not caring what they're up to. He felt that from now on, he and many others here would be watching what goes on around them, much more closely, and without thinking twice.
