Emergency crews at last July's London bombings were let down by poor communications and flawed plans to help survivors, a 6-month inquiry concluded yesterday.

Some rescuers relied on radios which did not work on the underground rail network and others' mobile phones failed, the report by the elected London Assembly said.

"This breakdown in communication led to a failure to deploy the right numbers of ambulances to the right locations; a lack of necessary equipment and supplies at the scene and delays in getting some of the injured to hospital," the report said.

The most striking failing was the lack of planning to care for people who survived and were traumatized, it added. "It is unacceptable that the emergency services, with the exception of the British Transport police, are still not able to communicate when they are underground," the report said.

Four suicide bombers killed 52 commuters and injured some 700 in attacks on three trains and a bus in the capital during the morning rush hour on July 7, 2005.

Richard Barnes, chairman of the committee which wrote the report, said police, fire and ambulance crews had been "incredibly brave" but that lessons needed to be learned after their communications broke down.

An over-reliance on mobile phones was exposed when police in the City of London financial district ordered the temporary shutdown of part of the network without checking with those leading the response.

"We actually had someone acting outside the command structure on July 7 and that was not necessarily helpful," Barnes told BBC Radio.

The failure to provide survivors with a central place to gather after the bombings to get help and give their details was another key mistake, he added.

Source: China Daily