HOPE OUT OF TERROR
Emotional tributes paid near site of carnage
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge arrive for a Service of Hope at Westminster Abbey in London, following the Westminster terror attack. Family members of victims, including those who were injured, also attended the ceremony.
THE FAMILIES of those murdered in the Westminster terror attack made moving public appearances yesterday at a ceremony just around the corner from where the killings took place.
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry joined survivors and the relatives of victims at a multi-faith service in Westminster Abbey two weeks after Khalid Masood ran over and stabbed pedestrians in the capital.
Melissa Cochran, from Utah, who lost her husband Kurt, 54, in the attack, was seen arriving at the service in a wheelchair.
They had been celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary in London when they were caught up in the carnage, with Mrs Cochran suffering a broken leg and rib and a cut head.
Witnesses and members of the emergency services involved in the response efforts were among the 1,800-strong congregation for the Service of Hope.
The Duke laid a wreath of spring flowers, including red and white roses and gerbera, at the Innocent Victims memorial outside the Abbey in central London as they arrived.
A card on the wreath, signed by William, read: “In memory of the innocent lives; lost to us all on the 22nd March, 2017.”
The royals were greeted by London Mayor Sadiq Khan and Metropolitan Police Acting Commissioner Craig Mackey before processing down the aisle, where emergency services personnel lined the front row.
Five people, including terrorist Masood, were killed and dozens of others injured in the 82-second atrocity on Wednesday, March 22.
Mr Cochran, retired window cleaner Leslie Rhodes, 75, and Aysha Frade, 44, died when the Muslim convert drove at pedestrians on Westminster Bridge.
The 52-year-old attacker was shot dead by armed police after fatally stabbing Pc Keith Palmer, 48, in the Palace of Westminster’s cobbled forecourt.
The Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend John Hall, led yesterday’s service.
Dr Hall told the congregation: “We are all affected by the attack a fortnight ago on Westminster Bridge and at the gates of the Palace of Westminster, and we are all left bewildered and disturbed.
“But our sense of loss and diminishment is paled by comparison with that of the families of those who died: Aysha Frade, Kurt Cochran and Leslie Rhodes on the bridge, and Police Constable Keith Palmer on duty at the gates of Parliament, and all those who were injured.
“Our hearts go out to them in sympathy and prayer and love.”
He added: What could possibly motivate a man to hire a car and take it from Birmingham to Brighton to London, and then drive it fast at people he had never met, couldn’t possibly know, against whom he had no personal grudge, no reason to hate them and then run at the gates of the Palace of Westminster to cause another death? It seems likely that we shall never know.
“No doubt it was in imitation of the attacks in Nice and Berlin. But what on earth did he hope to achieve? Such random acts of aggression are nothing new.”
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was seen taking a seat ahead of the service, as well as Commons Speaker John Bercow and Home Secretary Amber Rudd.
In a poignant moment of reflection – The Act of Commitment – candles were lit while the choir sang. Each member of the congregation clutched a single candle as prayers were read by those of all faiths, including Rabbi Baroness Julia Neuberger and Mr Khan.
We are all affected by the attack a fortnight ago on Westminster The Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend John Hall