Stash of ‘Molotov cocktails’:

Britain

Zaghba

Butt

The assailants behind a terror attack in London last week had also prepared a stash of Molotov cocktails and initially tried to hire a truck rather than a van to mow down pedestrians, British police said on Saturday.

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said forensic officers examining the white rental van found “13 wine bottles with rags wrapped around them and believed to be filled with a flammable liquid,” as well as two blowtorches.

The three attackers struck pedestrians with the van and then went on a stabbing spree wearing fake suicide vests last Saturday in the London Bridge area, a popular nightlife district.

Eight people were killed before the assailants — Khuram Shazad Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba — were shot dead by police. Forty-eight people were injured.

Police also said Butt had tried to hire a 7.5-tonne lorry hours before carrying out the attack, but was turned down because the payment failed.

“Because of the fact his payment method failed he couldn’t get hold of that lorry,” CounterTerrorism Command chief Dean Haydon told reporters.

Haydon went on to say that “it’s feasible when you look at their actions, they were still fairly close to the van, there is a possibility they could have come back to the van. (AFP)