7 KILLED, 48 HURT IN TERROR ATTACKS IN LONDON
LONDON— Another night of terrorism unfolded in Britain on Saturday with two attacks that killed seven civilians in the center of the capital, police said.
At least one of the dead was killed when a van careered onto the sidewalk along London Bridge, mowing down pedestrians.
The London Ambulance Service said it had brought 48 injured to five hospitals.
“It has now been confirmed sadly that seven members of the public have died,” Cressida Dick, chief of the London police force, told reporters, raising the toll from six victims earlier.
The police said they killed the three attackers, which they believed to be the total number of assailants.
Witnesses reported that at least one man jumped out of the van wielding a large knife and ran into the nearby Borough Market, a popular spot for pubs and restaurants on the southern side of the Thames.
Three attackers killed
Heavily armed police responded to the bridge attack, which took place just after 10 p.m., and more officers rushed to investigate reports of stabbing at the market.
The police shot and killed three attackers there, within eight minutes of receiving the first emergency call, they said.
The three attackers had been wearing what looked like explosive vests that were later found to have been hoaxes.
BBC showed a photograph of two possible attackers shot by police, one of whom had canisters strapped to his body.
Hours after the attack, the area, just downstream from London’s government quarter, remained sealed off and patrolled by armed police and counterterrorism officers.
Though no one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, they hit a nation still reeling from the shock of the bombing in Manchester almost two weeks ago when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the doors of an Ariana Grande concert.
Twenty-two people were killed, including many children in the Manchester attack.
Shock and anger
The mood in London was shock and anger, with the center of the city saturated all night with the sound of sirens.
People were told to run, or hide and silence their cell phones as the police searched for assailants.
There was panic that a third stabbing in the Vauxhall area at about the same time as the assaults near the bridge might have been part of a coordinated attack, but the police later declared that incident unrelated.
The attacks came a few days before snap elections that have major implications for the country’s future outside the European Union.
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, called it a “deliberate and cowardly attack on innocent Londoners,” and it was also condemned by the leader of the main opposition party, Jeremy Corbyn.
Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed the attack “is being treated as a potential act of terrorism” and said her thoughts were with “those who are caught up these dreadful events.”
A White House spokesperson said US President Donald Trump was briefed by his national security aides on the unfolding events in London.
Trump spoke with May, offering his condolences for the attacks and praising the re- sponse of the police, White House officials said.
Ramadan attacks
No motive has been ascribed to the attackers, but on the messaging app Telegram, members and supporters of the Islamic State (IS) group shared a poster that calls for supporters to attack people with guns, knives and trucks during the month of Ramadan, which began last weekend.
On Saturday night ambulances rushed to the scene, people fled in panic, restaurants and hotels were evacuated and helicopters flew overhead.
Witnesses described horrible scenes.
Holly Jones, a BBC reporter whowas on the bridge when the van crashed, said it was driven by a man and was “probably traveling at about [80 kilometers] an hour.”
She said at least five people were being treated for injuries after the vehicle drove on the sidewalk and hit them.
A witness, who identified himself as Andrew, said he was in the area at a bar, heard “a massive bang” and saw a van hitting the rail of the road.
“Ten seconds later, there was a guy with a big knife, I mean, a big knife,” he told LBC Radio.
Andrew said he jumped over a fence, got to a footpath and there was “a dead guy lying on the floor.”
At the market, Ben, who did not give his last name, told the BBC that he and his wife, Natalie, saw someone being stabbed.
Stabbing
“I saw a man in red with quite a large blade—I don’t know the measurement, I guess maybe [25 centimeters],” Ben said. “He was stabbing a man. He stabbed him about three times fairly calmly.”
He then said someone threw a table and a bottle at the man with the knife, but “then we heard three gunshots and we ran.”
A man named Gerard told BBC that he saw men stabbing everyone they could and shouting “this is for Allah.”
He saw three men with knives “and they stabbed a girl,” he said.
Threat level ‘severe’
Saturday’s attack was reminiscent of another on Westminster Bridge on March 22, when Khalid Masood, 52, drove a car into pedestrians, killing four people.
He then stabbed a police officer to death before being shot and killed near Parliament.
The police treated that attack, in which 50 were injured, as “Islamist-related terrorism.”
On May 22, a British suicide bomber killed 22 people and injured dozens at an Ariana Grande concert in Machester.
After that attack, Britain’s official threat level from terrorism was raised to “critical,” meaning an attack might be imminent.
Several days later it was lowered to “severe,” meaning an attack is highly likely.
A charity concert for victims of the Manchester attack, featuring Grande and other stars, is due to be held in the northwest English city on Sunday.