Spain criticises wait for answer on fate of missing skateboarder

Parents of HSBC banker travel to London but kept in the dark as police insist on strict ID procedure

THE Spanish foreign minister yesterday criticised British authorities for not acting quickly to identify a Spaniard believed to have been killed in Saturday’s attack.

Foreign minister Alfonso Dastis said the UK Government must do “everything humanly possible” to inform the family of the fate of 39-year-old lawyer Ignacio Echeverria, who was last seen fighting off the terrorists with his skateboard.

“We are pressing British authorities because, frankly, this is a situation that can’t be extended for much longer,” said Mr Dastis, who called for greater efforts to avoid “more anguish and pain” for the family.

Mr Echeverria’s parents have flown to London from their home near Madrid, but his sister Isabel said they were still in limbo.

She wrote on Facebook yesterday evening: “Still got no news about Ignacio. The British authorities have asked us for 24 or 48 hours more to give us information.”

Responding to the update, one friend said: “We don’t want to wait a minute more.”

Another added: “The most important thing is knowing where Ignacio is, but the little empathy being shown here is still outrageous. We think we’re living in a civilised state and then things like this happen. What a lack of humanity!”

Relatives of Mr Echeverria yesterday tweeted 10 Downing Street calling for

‘The most important thing is knowing where Ignacio is, but the little empathy being shown is outrageous’

Theresa May to do more to speed up the process.

Fernando Vergara, a brother-in-law, said: “Families of the victims of LB attacks feel mistreated by lack of information leading to unnecessary agony. 63 hrs still no news.”

His brother, Joaquin, said that the police had told them it could be a further 48 hours before they heard if Mr Echeverria was dead or alive.

It is thought identification is taking so long because Mr Echeverria was not carrying any identity documents as he cycled home from a park where he had been skating with friends when he saw the attack. He was last seen lying on the pavement.

Police said they needed fingerprint confirmation before identifying any victim and Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, insisted that protocols must be followed before making identities public.

However, Mr Echeverria’s sister told El Confidencial that “the UK government is not giving out information owing to the proximity of elections”.

HSBC, for whom Mr Echeverria worked on money-laundering prevention, has now reportedly hired private detectives to find him.

Scotland Yard also warned last night that an eighth victim of the attack may have been thrown into the Thames.

Detectives issued an urgent appeal for information about the whereabouts of Xavier Thomas, 45, who has been missing since Saturday night.

Mr Thomas was in London for the weekend with his girlfriend Christine Delcros, who was badly injured in the attack and underwent a two-hour operation this afternoon to reset her pelvis.

The couple were walking south over London Bridge at around the time the attack began.