UNITED: Vigil for victims
THE VICTIMS: Brit James who just popped out for cig & tragic Chrissy SOBBING SISTER IN TRIBUTE TO VICTIM
THE heartbroken sister of a British businessman who died in the terror attack has branded his killers “deranged and deluded”.
James McMullan, 32, became the second victim of Saturday’s atrocity to be confirmed dead. He was identified after his family was told his bank card had been found on one of the bodies. James was last seen when he stepped outside the Barrowboy And Banker at the south end of London Bridge for a cigarette two minutes before the three-strong gang launched their knife rampage. His friends were rushed upstairs to safety when the attack began and never saw him again. It was his first night out for months as he had been working 16-hour days getting ready to launch a new e-learning business.
Talented
Yesterday his sister Melissa, 30, wept as she paid tribute to her “amazing and incredibly talented” sibling.
She said: “This morning we received news from police that my brother’s bank card was found on one of the bodies from Saturday night’s brutal attack but they are unable to formally identify him until the coroner’s report begins tomorrow.
“We would like to thank the emergency services who did their utmost to serve and protect the population of London from these deranged and deluded individuals.
“While our pain will never diminish it is important for us to all carry on with our lives in direct opposition to those who have tried to destroy us and remember that hatred is the refuge of small-minded individuals and will only breed more.
“This is not a cause we will follow despite our loss.”
Melissa said her brother had been excited about his business launch.
His friends who were out with him on Saturday had spent 48 hours driving around hospitals trying to find him.
Melissa said her parents Mila and Simon, who had been watching news updates, were “devastated”.
James was among seven to die. The first victim was named as Christine “Chrissy” Archibald, 30, who died in
her fiancé Tyler Ferguson’s arms after she was struck by the terrorists’ van as they drove across London Bridge at 50mph.
The Canadian, who was visiting London for the weekend with Tyler, was described as someone who “believed strongly that every person was to be valued and respected”.
Tyler’s sister Cassie Ferguson said he was “broken into a million pieces” adding: “He held her and watched her die in his arms.”
The couple had been living in the Netherlands for the past six months and were looking forward to their wedding.
Tyler’s brother Mark said: “They were very madly in love and had quite the plans for the future. The love of his life has just been ripped away from him.”
Last night the families of five others missing were desperately appealing for news of their loved ones. Brave HSBC bank worker Ignacio Echeverria, 39, used his skateboard as a weapon against one of the attackers as he tried to save a woman.
Spanish-born Ignacio, who lived in Poplar, east London, was last seen lying on the pavement near London Bridge. His sister Isabel has launched an appeal in a bid to find him.
Worried relatives of Australian nanny Sara Zelenak, 21, appealed for help to find her after she got separated from friends on the bridge.
Sara’s stepdad Mark said her mum Julie was flying to the UK.
Mark, from Brisbane, said: “I feel terrible. I can’t think. She has been gone for 48 hours and no-one has seen or heard from her.”
Frenchman Xavier Thomas is also missing. His girlfriend Christine Delcros was reportedly seriously injured in the attack.
Xavier was out with a group of pals from France but none of them have been able to find him since.
Gerda Bennet, 22, was last night flying to Britain to search for her missing boyfriend Sebastien Belanger.
She said the Frenchman was “exactly at the place where the attack happened”.
An aunt of Socaine Drz shared a photo of him online in a desperate bid to find him.
Hatice Bodur messaged: “If you see this Socaine please return home.”
Eighteen people remain critically ill in hospitals across London.