Gold Coaster safe as eerie calm descends on city in lockdown
MICHAELA Fitzgerald emerged from her London office yesterday to find the bustling metropolis eerily calm in the wake of the carnage and bloodshed earlier in the day.
The building the Gold Coaster had been in was a few streets away from the attack. It was locked down immediately.
All she could do was check herself in as “safe” on social media for friends and family at home when they woke up to news of the 2.40pm (12.40am Gold Coast time) attack.
“I’m all good, still can’t believe all this though,” she told the Gold Coast Bulletin.
The events manager for a club in Piccadilly Circus, who used to work for the Cooly Rocks On festival, said traffic out of the city was “rammed” and the surrounding area and underground Tube put into lockdown after the attack.
“The (manager) of my club came into the office stating he was the only one on the road coming into central,” she said.
“The roads were rammed with people trying to get out (of the city).”
Ms Fitzgerald found the usually bustling metropolis quiet when she finished work.
“It’s the quietest I’ve seen central London,” she said.
“First time I’ve had a seat on the Tube for a while, and everyone seemed very cautious when I walked on with my big gym bag, but I suppose that’s to be expected.”
Ms Fitzgerald, who moved to London last June, said people appeared to be pulling together.
“The one thing I’m noticing is instead of throwing hatred and pointing at a specific group, people are directing their anger at the perpetrator himself,” she said.
“London is banding together and showing that it is going to take more than that to send everyone running in fear.”
When Gold Coasters wake today Ms Fitzgerald will have just finished another day at work.
“It’s back to business as usual,” she said. “The incident is being treated as a one-off so I think it’s important that it doesn’t disrupt anything.”