The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Five dead, 40 maimed in London terror attack
Prime minister vows to defeat ‘forces of evil’ after Westminster horror
FIVE people have died and at least 40 others were injured in a “sick and depraved” terrorism attack at the heart of British democracy.
The man, armed with two large knives, mowed down pedestrians with his car on Westminster Bridge, before killing an unarmed policeman at the gates of parliament. The attacker was shot dead at the scene.
Shocked MPs and the P&J’s Westminster Correspondent watched in horror as the events unfolded.
And those working in the Commons were kept inside for hours amid fears the terrorist’s car was fixed with a bomb.
Last night Prime Minister Theresa May called an emergency Cobra meeting to discuss the attack and vowed parliament would resume as normal tomorrow.
She said: “We will all move forward together, never giving in to terror and never allowing the voices of hate and evil to drive us apart.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also extended her condolences, and the Holyrood debate on independence was suspended after details of the attack began to emerge.
Five people were killed, including an unarmed police officer, and around 40 others were injured, after a knifeman brought terror to the heart of Westminster during a suspected terror attack.
The attacker, armed with two large knives, mowed down pedestrians with his car on Westminster Bridge, including schoolchildren, then rushed at the gates in front of the Houses of Parliament, stabbing the policeman before being shot dead by other officers.
The fatally wounded policeman, who was unarmed, was named by Scotland Yard’s top anti-terror officer Mark Rowley as 48year-old husband and father Keith Palmer.
Mr Rowley told reporters outside New Scotland Yard, a short distance from the scene of the attack, that the death toll had been updated to five – including Mr Palmer, the suspect, and three members of the public.
Paying tribute to Mr Palmer, Mr Rowley said: “He was someone who left for work today expecting to return home at the end of his shift – and he had every right to expect that would happen.”
Some of those hurt have been described as suffering “catastrophic” injuries.
It came as the prime minister vowed to defeat what she called “the forces of evil”.
Mrs May, who was in Parliament at the time of the attack, praised the bravery of police officers who killed the attacker as he sought another victim.
She said any attempt to defeat the values that Parliament stood for was “doomed to failure”.
Witnesses described scenes of terror when gunfire rang out as the knifeman lunged towards a second officer.
Mr Rowley said: “This was a day we’ve planned for but hoped would never happen.
“Sadly, it is now a reality.”
Paramedics fought to save the officer’s life and that of his attacker on the floor of the cobbled courtyard in front of Parliament, with Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood among those who rushed to help.
The police officer was wheeled away on a stretcher with his face covered. Mr Ellwood, who lost his brother in the Bali bombing, could be seen pumping the officer’s chest then standing above him, his hands and face smeared with blood.
The knifeman drove a grey Hyundai i40 across Westminster Bridge before crashing it into railings then running through the gates of the Palace of Westminster.
His attack left a trail of destruction as paramedics tended to victims on the bridge and at the gate.
One woman hit by the attacker’s car before he reached Parliament was confirmed dead by a doctor at St Thomas’ Hospital. She said others on the bridge suffered “catastrophic injuries”. Another woman who fell into the Thames was rescued and given urgent medical treatment on a nearby pier.
London Ambulance Service said paramedics had treated at least 10 patients on Westminster Bridge.
A party of French children were among those targeted on the bridge, with three injured.
Mobile phone footage showed a woman lying lifeless under a bus on the bridge near where the car crashed to a halt.
Witness Rick Longley said: “We were walking up to the station and there was a loud bang and someone crashed a car and took some pedestrians out.
“They were just laying there and then the whole crowd just surged around the corner by the gates just opposite Big Ben.
“A guy came past my right shoulder with a big knife and started plunging it into the policeman.
“I have never seen anything like that. I just can’t believe what I just saw.”
Rob Lyon, 34, from Rugby, was walking along Westminster Bridge with a colleague when he saw the car travelling at high-speed, hitting pedestrians.
He said: “I heard a wheel hit a kerb, I saw a car clearly hitting people as it came towards me.
“A colleague I was with, James, I heard him sort of shout. I instinctively
jumped off the pavement. I could see people being hit.
“And then the car just carried on up the bridge and I just looked around and was really in shock.”
He said he saw about five people lying on the ground around him.
“It was harrowing,” he added.
Steve Voake, 55, was walking across the Westminster Bridge towards the South Bank when he saw the aftermath. He said he saw at least two bodies lying on the road and one in the water.
“I saw a trainer lying in the road and when I looked more closely I saw that there were a couple of bodies the other side of the road,” he said.
“And when I looked over the side there was another body lying in the water with blood all around it.”
An air ambulance landed in Parliament Square and a regular ambulance came in through the front gates as medics helped the officer.
Parliament Square and surrounding streets were closed to traffic while Parliament went into lockdown.
As the sitting in the House of Commons was suspended, Commons Leader David Lidington told MPs: “A police officer has been stabbed and the alleged assailant was shot by armed police.”
Witnesses described seeing a heavy-set man carrying a knife and running towards the Houses of Parliament.
Jayne Wilkinson said: “We saw all the people running towards us, and then there was an Asian guy in
“He was running through those gates, towards Parliament”
about his 40s carrying a knife about seven or eight inches long.
“And then there were three shots fired, and then we crossed the road and looked over. The man was on the floor.
“He was running through those gates, towards Parliament, and the police were chasing him.”
“We shudder to think what might have happened had the killer run amok inside” “Some might argue that we have been riding our luck to escape attack for so long”
After years of dire warnings that the UK was a prime target for terrorist attack, the unthinkable finally happened yesterday with the horrific scenes around the Palace of Westminster.
At one point, we could see lines of innocent young children on school trips ushered away safely in the background after being given the all-clear.
We shudder to think what might have happened had the killer run amok inside, stabbing people randomly in the heart of the UK’s democracy. This was the whole point of course – to bring shock, terror and murder to London streets and on the doorstep of our legislature.
Other innocents were not so lucky: passers-by mown down as they walked along Westminster Bridge as a vehicle was turned into a murder weapon. A police officer died while trying to keep others safe.
Prophetic words of warning by Scotland Yard counter-terror chief Mark Rowley were fresh in many people’s minds as he briefed media about the outrage. A few weeks ago, he spoke about the threat to Britain and methods which might be deployed – “everything from fairly simple attacks with knives or using vehicles ...”. He was echoing a report by Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency, which said we were facing a range of terrorist threats and attacks, including the use of bladed weapons and vehicles.
The murderous London rampage mirrored similar attacks in Nice last July when dozens of people were killed as a lorry ploughed into a large crowd watching a fireworks display to mark the Bastille Day holiday. Months later, an attacker drove a lorry into a crowded Christmas market in central Berlin, killing several people and injuring dozens more.
No matter how sophisticated or elaborate counter-terrorism measures become, and we have to be thankful they evolve so fast, the cold hard fact is that we face suicidal terrorists, with no fear of instant death at the hands of security services. They can cause heavy loss of life and injury in a short time with just a knife and a vehicle to hand before they are cut down themselves.
Once the identity of the killer is revealed, questions will be asked inevitably about whether or not he was known to UK security services.
Some might argue that we have been riding our luck to escape attack for so long, but credit to our security services for foiling an estimated 13 potential attacks since 2013.
In the immediate aftermath of this atrocity, security officers will be moving fast to uncover his background and any support network because we know the risk is ever present, but it is impossible to tell where it is coming from next – likely methods of attack might be predictable, but where the dark seeds of terrorist motivation take root are harder to detect.