‘Vital minutes lost’ as terror attack victim lay in river

A VICTIM of the Westminster attack was face down in the Thames for five minutes, while her distraught boyfriend desperately searched for her, an inquest heard.

Romanian Andreea Cristea, 31, had been sightseeing with her partner Andrei Burnaz when tragedy struck on Westminster Bridge on March 22 last year.

She had stopped to take a photograph of the London Eye moments before Khalid Masood drove into her, sending her “somersaulting” into the river. She was in the water unconscious for two minutes before the skipper of a passing tourist boat hooked her with a long pole, thinking she was dead.

The court heard he made no attempt to lift her face from the water or check for signs of life, instead waiting for a fire launch to fish her out three minutes later.

As soon as she was aboard, she “coughed and spluttered” and began to breathe, the inquest heard. Ms Cristea, was rushed to hospital but died two weeks later.

A lawyer for the interior designer’s family questioned whether vital minutes were lost while she was immersed in the cold river water.

Giving evidence at her inquest, Mr Burnaz described the screams and “loud bump” as Masood careering onto the pavement.

He said: “It was very quick, everything was very quick. In the same second I felt a burning sensation on my left foot and another bang, something that was probably Andreea.”

Mr Burnaz told the inquest he realised the car had run over his foot, and his girlfriend, who had been 40cm away, was gone. He searched the bridge and looked over the side, fearing she had fallen into the river before appealing to an armed police officer for help. Mr Burnaz said: “I ran and started to explain to him what had happened and I tried to explain to him that I could not find my girlfriend and he started yelling ‘go back, go back, clear the area’.

“I turned back to the spot in the middle of the bridge and I started again to look around for her. I tried to call her on her phone. Her phone started ringing. I found her phone and glasses covered in blood.”

After 15 minutes, a female officer took his details and informed colleagues what had happened.

Masood, 52, killed four people on Westminster Bridge before stabbing Pc Keith Palmer to death at the Palace of Westminster.

Alissa Dale, of Barnby Dun, near Doncaster is pictured at a ladies day event at the town’s racecourse. Fashionable women from across the region were competing to claim the coveted Best Dressed Lady title and win a prize package at the meeting.