3 MINUTES OF MURDER
Inquest told how terrorists killed eight innocent people in frenzied attack
EIGHT people were murdered in a three-minute rampage by the London Bridge terrorists, an inquest heard yesterday.
Another 48 were injured before police shot dead the three killers to bring their summer night bloodbath to an end.
Among the victims were a young woman who had kissed her fiance and told him “I love you” seconds earlier and a brave nurse who was stabbed as she tried to save another person’s life.
The mayhem began when Khuram Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba drove their van into pedestrians on the bridge in June 2017, before jumping out and slashing others at random.
Det Supt Rebecca Riggs told the Old Bailey inquest: “All the fatal injuries were inflicted in the first three minutes.”
THE relaxed revelry of a summer night out was shattered in moments by terrorists who brought murder and mayhem to the streets of London, an inquest heard yesterday.
Eight innocent people were stabbed to death or run down by the vile thugs in just three minutes of madness.
Another 48 were injured when Khuram Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba went on their bloody rampage, slashing their victims at random on and around London Bridge.
Chief Coroner Mark Lucraft QC told the inquest at the Old Bailey: “The lives of many people were torn apart by what took place in less than 10 minutes of high and terrible drama.”
Detective Superintendent Rebecca Riggs added: “All the fatal injuries were inflicted in the first three minutes.”
Among the victims was a young woman who kissed her fiance and told him “I love you” seconds earlier and a nurse stabbed as she tried to save another person’s life.
Chilling images showed the terrorists ploughing into pedestrians before stabbing scores of people. Some family members left court before the graphic stills were shown while one walked out in distress during the evidence.
The first victim was Frenchman and devoted dad-of-two Xavier Thomas.
Christine Archibald, James McMullan, Sara Zelenak, Ignacio Echeverria, Alexandre Pigeard, Kirsty Boden and Sebastien Belanger were the others
killed. Pakistan-born Butt, 27, Redouane, 30, and 22-year-old Zaghba – both from Morocco – drove their Renault van on to packed London Bridge at 10.06pm on June 3, 2017, ploughing into pedestrians at speeds of up to 34mph.
They continued their rampage on foot, stabbing four people in Green Dragon Court near Borough Market.
The trio were shot dead by police officers at 10.16pm, 10 minutes after the start of the rampage..
Three months earlier, Khalid Masood mowed down pedestrians on nearby Westminster Bridge before stabbing a police officer to death.
The inquest, which continues today, will hear why there were still no barriers to protect pedestrians on London Bridge.
Earlier, Met Police Commissioner Cressida Dick, head of counter-terrorism policing Neil Basu and City of London Police Commissioner Ian Dyson joined relatives of the dead in a minute’s silence.
A separate inquest will be held into the deaths of Butt, Redouane and Zaghba.