London terror attack: The victims
Seven people were killed in Saturday’s terror attack in central London and 48 taken to hospital, including 21 people who were critically injured. Three attackers in a van veered into pedestrians on London Bridge before going on a stabbing rampage in Borough Market. They were shot dead by police. Those killed and wounded were from countries around the world. Here is what we know about the victims:
Canadian killed on bridge
Christine Archibald, a 30-year-old Canadian woman, died in her fiance Tyler Ferguson’s arms after being hit by the van on London Bridge. “My baby brother lost the love of his life on the London Bridge,” Cassie Ferguson Rowe wrote on Facebook. “In a split second his entire life was ripped away from him. Hearing his painful sobs on the phone while he’s alone trying to deal with this tears me apart.” Newspapers said she was a charity worker. Archibald’s family said in a statement: “We grieve the loss of our beautiful, loving daughter and sister. She had room in her heart for everyone and believed strongly that every person was to be valued and respected. “She lived this belief, working in a shelter for the homeless until she moved to Europe to be with her fiance. “She would have had no understanding of the callous cruelty that caused her death.”
French bistro worker
A Frenchman was killed in the attack, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said. The man has not yet been formally named by officials or his family. He had family links in the Brittany port town of Saint-Malo on the northwest French coast but was not from the town himself, local mayor Claude Renoult said. Local newspapers said the man lived in London and worked in Boro Bistro, a Breton-run restaurant in Borough Market. Flags in Saint-Malo are flying at half-mast.
Le Drian said that in addition seven French nationals were taken to hospital, four of whom were in a critical condition, while another French national was unaccounted for. ‘Heroic’ officer, journalist among wounded - An off-duty, unarmed London police officer who was having a drink after work rushed to help but is now in hospital in a serious condition, London police chief Cressida Dick said.”Without hesitation, wearing his normal clothes, he dived in and tried to assist and I’m afraid was severely injured but utterly heroic,” she told BBC television.
A uniformed British Transport Police officer was one of the first on the scene after responding to calls for help from the public. He was stabbed in the face, head and leg and taken to hospital but his injuries are not thought to be lifethreatening. A further two London police officers were wounded: A plain clothes officer received stitches to a head injury and a uniformed officer sustained an arm injury. Geoff Ho, a business editor at the Sunday Express newspaper, was outside the Southwark Tavern pub. He tried to help a bouncer who was being attacked but was stabbed in the throat himself. The martial artist was wearing his British Lions shirt after watching the rugby match on television and was filmed being led away from the scene by a policeman, clutching his neck and with his shirt off. “Don’t know whether it was stupid or noble to jump in and break up the fight outside the Southwark Tavern, but two a***s trying to do over the lone bouncer on the door isn’t happening on my watch,” he wrote on Facebook. Sunday Express editor Martin Townsend said: “We are all hoping and praying for a speedy recovery.”
Oliver Dowling, 32, from Christchurch in New Zealand, was stabbed in the face, neck and stomach and his girlfriend was also injured, newspaper reports said. He was put into a coma for four hours of surgery. — AFP