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Terrorism hits home for some residents

A young Londoner in the 1980s, Claire Burroughes remembers the subway system of the famous city vividly. The underground transportation system, known as the “tube,” is the fastest and most convenient way to travel from the suburbs to the city, and within the city itself, said Burroughes.

“It is the best means of transportation during the rush hour,” said Burroughes, describing the transit system as “very hot” with people often “standing shoulder to shoulder.”

Burroughes is part of a small pool of English who settled in Clovis after their Air Force spouses were stationed at Cannon.

The terrorist attacks on the London subway Thursday’s hit Burroughes’ community, and the news was “frightening.”

Four explosions pummeled the London subway and ripped open a crowded double-decker bus during the morning rush hour, sending bloodied victims fleeing in the worst attack on London since World War II. At least 40 people were killed, U.S. officials said, and more than 700 were wounded.

Terrorism, said Burroughes, referring to a series of London bomb attacks by the Irish Republic Army, “is not an unfamiliar face in London,” but it is still the worst possible thing a country can suffer, she said.

“The 40 people killed in these attacks brings to perspective 9/11 and what America suffered on such a large scale then. I feel so sorry for any country that suffers from terrorism — it is the most awful, sneaky thing,” said Burroughes, who works for the city.

When Clovis resident Liz Eisenbraun heard news of the attacks, she immediately called her sister, who lives in London, but wasn’t hurt in the attacks. Nineteen years ago, Eisenbraun, like Burroughes, moved from England to Clovis after her husband was stationed at Cannon. She responded to news of the terrorist attacks with many of the same sentiments as Burroughes.

“Barbaric acts like that anywhere in the world obviously affect you,” said Eisenbraun, who works for the Clovis-Curry County Chamber of Commerce. “But when it is your own country, it’s closer to your heart.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.