Bethnal Green is part of the London Borough of Hackney and is a particularly cosmopolitan part of the capital, where many hundreds of different languages are spoken. During the Second World War the station was used as an air raid shelter and after being struck by a bomb in 1943, 172 people were killed in a crush as they tried to flee the scene; still the biggest single loss of life on the network. Nearby is Victoria Park, east London’s largest green area.
