Inquest: Lives torn apart in seconds
‘Instinctive courage’ shown by victim who pushed wife out of attacker’s path and paid with his own life
Lives were torn apart “by 82 seconds of high and terrible drama” in the Westminster terror attack, an inquest has heard.
Four members of the public and Pc Keith Palmer died on March 22 last year during a rampage by Khalid Masood, who drove into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge.
LIVES WERE torn apart “by 82 seconds of high and terrible drama” in the Westminster terror attack, an inquest has heard.
Four members of the public and Pc Keith Palmer died on March 22 last year during a rampage by Khalid Masood.
In that time, Masood, 52, drove into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, killing American tourist Kurt Cochran, 54, retired window cleaner Leslie Rhodes, 75, Aysha Frade, 44, and Romanian tourist Andreea Cristea, 31.
He then stabbed Pc Palmer who was on guard at the Palace of Westminster.
Yesterday, Chief Coroner Mark Lucraft QC began the inquests into the victims’ deaths in Court One of the Old Bailey.
He told the court: “The lives of many were torn apart by 82 seconds of high and terrible drama.”
The coroner went on to warn that some of the video footage shown in evidence will be “graphic and shocking”.
Continuing his opening remarks, he then asked the court to observe a minute’s silence for those who died.
Pen portraits of each of the victims were read to the court, where relatives sat to listen to proceedings.
Detective Superintendent John Crossley then went through how each of the victims was fatally injured.
Masood mounted the pavement at 2.40pm and within 30 seconds hit the four civilian victims and crashed into railings at the perimeter gates of the Palace of Westminster.
Mr Cochran acted with “instinctive courage” when he pushed his wife out of the path of the hired Hyundai Tuscon driven by Masood, the court heard. He was thrown into the air and was fatally injured, dying at the scene.
Mr Rhodes was dragged 33 metres under the car, and was taken to Kings College Hospital but never regained consciousness. He died the next day from head injuries.
Mrs Frade was hit by the car from behind and thrown into a bus lane, where she was run over by a bus and died from a “catastrophic” head injury.
Images were shown of what happened, with a court warning that they were distressing.
Miss Cristea was thrown off Westminster Bridge, falling 12.5 metres into the Thames. She was in the water for nearly nine minutes before she was recovered.
The inquest heard that the Romanian tourist, who had been walking over the bridge with her boyfriend Andrei Burnaz towards the London Eye, was given “intensive and complex” treatment at the Royal London and St Bartholomew’s hospitals but never regained consciousness and died on April 6 when her life support was switched off.
Gareth Patterson QC, who represents three grieving families, said the images showed Masood was “deliberately targeting pedestrians”.
Mr Patterson added: “This was terrorism of an indiscriminate type and whatever he though about the values of democracy, it was those values of democracy that led police officers to try to save his life at the end of this.”
This was terrorism of an indiscriminate type. Gareth Patterson QC, representing three grieving families