Tears for the fallen as families of London Bridge victims share anguish
● Towns and cities pay their respects to dead and injured ● Mayor visits headquarters of ambulance service
An ex-girlfriend of one of the victims of Saturday night’s terror attacks was among those who yesterday attended a minute’s silence at London Bridge. Nicola Smith, 24, sobbed and was comforted by her sister as she paid tribute to James Mcmullan, 32, who was named by his family as one of seven people killed by the three terrorists.
Silent tributes were staged across the UK as more details emerged of the victims of the latest terror attack in London.
Towns and cities fell silent at 11am as a mark of respect for those killed and injured on Saturday night.
London mayor Sadiq Khan visited the headquarters of the London Ambulance Service to mark the moment.
A French waiter and an Australian nurse were both named yesterday as victims of the London Bridge attack.
French media reported that Alexandre Pigeard, 27, was one of the seven people killed in the rampage. He is believed to have been from Caen, in Normandy, and had been living in London for more than two years.
Vincent Le Berre, manager of the Boro Bistro, said: “One of the attackers got on to the roof of the bar and jumped on the parasol on the terrace, wound- ing one of my colleagues. He immediately attacked a client who was killed. I managed to escape, but my friend Alexandre did not have a chance. He was stabbed in the neck with a knife.”
Australian nurse Kirsty Boden was killed after she ran towards danger to help people, her family said.
Relatives said the 28-yearold was “loved and adored by her family, friends and boyfriend”, while colleagues at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in central London described her as “one in a million”.
Her family said in a statement: “As she ran towards danger, in an effort to help people on the bridge, Kirsty sadly lost her life.
“We are so proud of Kirsty’s brave actions which demonstrate how selfless, caring and heroic she was, not only on that night, but throughout all of her life.”
Dame Eileen Sills, chief nurse at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, said: “I cannot put into words how sad I am that we have lost one of our own. Kirsty was an outstanding nurse and a hugely valued member of the staff, described by her colleagues as ‘one in a million’ who always went the extra mile for the patients in her care.”
James Mcmullan, 32, from Hackney, was with friends at the Barrowboy And Banker pub but stepped outside for a cigarette when the attackers struck.
Mr Mcmullan’s girlfriend was among those who visited the scene of the attack. Nicola Smith, 24, cried as she joined hundreds of people observing a minute’s silence in memory of the victims.
And his father, Simon Mcmullan, vowed he would carry on the work of his “exceptional” son, who had recently started a web-based business set to “revolutionise education”. Canadian Christine Archibald, 30, was the first to be named. She died in her fiance’s arms after being struck by the speeding van on London Bridge. Her family said she would have had “no understanding of the callous cruelty that caused her death”.
The family of 21-year-old Australian Sara Zelenak, one of four people missing since the attack, is pleading for information and raising money to fly her parents to Britain, where Ms Zelenak worked as a nanny.
Police said that a French man who has been missing since the night of the attack may have been thrown off London Bridge and into the River Thames by the killers’ speeding vehicle.
The Metropolitan Police force appealed for information about 45-year-old Xavier Thomas, who was walking with his girlfriend over the bridge when the attack began . She was struck and seriously injured by the van. The force said witness accounts suggest he might have been thrown into the river. Boats from the police marine unit and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution have been searching the Thames.
Spanish national Ignacio Echeverria, 39, was walking with friends when the attacks took place and was last seen on the ground after confronting the attackers with his skateboard.
Sebastien Belanger, a French chef who works at the Coq d’argent restaurant in the City became separated from friends after they were out drinking in the Boro Bistro.