7 killed as terror strikes London ahead of polls
LONDON: Election-bound Britain was caught up in the third terror attack in as many months on Saturday night when seven people were killed by militants who drove a van at high speed into pedestrians on London Bridge and then stabbed revellers in the nearby Borough Market area.
The three assailants were later shot dead by the police. British PM Theresa May on Sunday blamed “the evil ideology of Islamist extremism” for the attack and said: “It is time to say enough is enough.” The attack prompted demands to postpone Thursday’s mid-term election, but Britain’s political establishment insisted it would not be deterred from holding it on schedule.
The attack began at 10.06pm when a white van arrived at London Bridge and ploughed through pedestrians. It then stopped and its three occupants emerged to go on a stabbing spree in Borough Market. Eight armed officers fired 50 rounds to kill the three attackers. By 10.16pm, the assailants were neutralised, but not before they had killed seven people. The toll could go up. Twenty-one of the 50 people injured are critical. Scotland Yard conducted raids in the city and arrested 12 people in Barking, east London.
PM Narendra Modi condemned and termed them “shocking”. “Attacks in London are shocking & anguishing. We condemn them. My thoughts are with families of the deceased,” the PM tweeted.
LONDON: The area struck by terror on Saturday night – London Bridge and the Borough Market – is popular among Indian tourists who join thousands from other countries and Britons to relax and enjoy the many culinary and other delights it offers.
The Indian high commission said there was no information of any Indian affected by the attack in which Scotland Yard confirmed that seven people were killed and 48 injured. Three assailants were shot dead as armed police neutralised them within eight minutes of the attack.
Sunil Chopra, senior Labour councillor in the London borough of Southwark where the terror attack occurred, told Hindustan Times: “I have lived here over 37 years and have never seen such scenes. I am sure it won’t stop us from carrying on as normal”.
“I have seen ever more Indian tourists coming to London Bridge, Borough market and my borough over the years, relaxing and enjoying. So far there is no information of any Indian affected; the borough has about 2% of people of Indian origin”, Chopra, the New Delhi-origin former lord mayor of Southwark, added.
An Indian tourist, who identified himself as Ajay to The Guardian, was on holiday with his wife and two children aged nine and 14. He said his family had abandoned plans to visit Manchester because of the attack on the Ariana Grande concert but were staying at a hotel close to where Saturday night’s attack happened.
They were in a pizzeria on Borough High Street on what was supposed to be the last day of their holiday when panic erupted around them.