Helen Sandberg heard the bangs too, and when she saw the white light, she thought
the plane was burning. For about half a minute there was nothing but loud bangs and
white flashes, and then there was nothing. There were no lights at all in the plane and no
sounds either.
She turned to Michael. ‘Can’t you get them on the radio?’
‘I’m trying, Prime Minister. But I think it’s broken.’
She walked to the door. ‘I’m going out.’
Inspector Holm stood in front of her. ‘You must not do that, Prime Minister. We don’t
know what’s happens to me.’
He was a big man but he was afraid of her. She walked straight past him and down
the steps. In the departure lounge there was a crowd of passengers waiting to get on other
planes, and also a lot of doctors, police, and newspaper journalists. She walked straight
past them all and out onto the tarmac. It was dark and cold, and the wind blew rain into her
face. When she was about fifty metres away from the building she heard some people
behind her, but she did not stop.