Fiancee kissed me, said ‘I love you’ – then the terrorists struck
Tourist’s anguish over partner run down in London Bridge horror
A CANADIAN tourist told her fiance she loved him seconds before she was mowed down in the London Bridge terror attack, an inquest heard yesterday.
Christine Archibald hugged and kissed Tyler Ferguson, unaware that three terrorists were speeding towards them in a rented Renault van.
The van crashed into Miss Archibald, 30, on London Bridge, dragging her under a front wheel. The social worker died two hours later in her fiance’s arms.
She was one of eight victims of the atrocity which took place in less than ten minutes of ‘high and terrible drama’ on June 3, 2017. Khuram Butt, 27, Rachid Redouane, 30, and Youssef Zaghba, 22, killed two people with the van and six others with 12in pink ceramic knives which were tied to their hands.
Wearing fake suicide vests, they injured 48 others before being shot by police.
The Old Bailey inquest into the deaths heard that the area was busy with revellers who had just watched the Champions League final in the local pubs.
Mr Ferguson said: ‘At one point Chrissy stopped me out of nowhere, grabbed me close and gave me a passionate kiss after telling me she loved me.
‘I remember it being a warm summer’s evening and the sun had just gone down. And then the attack took place and Chrissy was killed. No words can express how I felt when this happened. I was absolutely devastated and inconsolable. Nothing has ever been the same since.’
Miss Archibald’s engagement ring was lost during the attack, but later recovered from the bridge. Mr Ferguson wears it on a chain around his neck.
The couple, who were living in The Hague, Holland, had been planning to get married in Canada in October last year.
Mr Ferguson described Miss Archibald as ‘my everything’. He carries a note from her in his wallet. It says: ‘You are sexiest man I have seen in my entire life. Luckily (for me) you are also the only man I’ve every truly loved (I’m so in love with you). Let’s get married and have beautiful babies. I want a family with you. I love you. Your future wife.’
The terrorists launched their attack on a Saturday night, shortly after 10pm.
They mounted the pavement on the bridge, knocking Frenchman Xavier Thomas, 45, into the Thames and injuring his girlfriend Christine Delcos. Mr Thomas was on the phone to his
‘Devastated and inconsolable’
son Nicolas, 17, when he was hit. His body was found three days later two miles downstream.
His stepfather Philippe Pesez said: ‘Barbarians who can in no way be described as humans took his life and destroyed that of a family, leaving his two children, his parents, his partner and her daughter in inconsolable despair.’
The terrorists crashed their van into railings next to the Barrowboy and Banker pub and started stabbing diners in Boro Bistro, a French restaurant next to Southwark Cathedral. The victims included 28-year- old Australian Kirsty Boden, a senior staff nurse at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital in London, who was fatally stabbed when she rushed to help the injured.
Miss Boden’s British boyfriend James Hodder said: ‘Her actions on that night didn’t surprise anyone who knew her. We are so unspeakably proud of her.’
French waiter Alexandre Pigeard, 26, Australian au pair Sara Zelenak, 21, French chef Sebastien Belanger, 36, and British entrepreneur James McMullan, 32, were all stabbed to death in the same area. The final victim was Spaniard Ignacio Echeverria, 39, who was fatally stabbed as he tried to fight off the attackers with his skateboard. All the fatalities occurred in the first three minutes of the attack.
Seven minutes later Pakistanborn Butt and Moroccan-born Redouane and Zaghba were shot dead by armed police.
The atrocity took place three months after Khalid Masood mowed down pedestrians on Westminster Bridge.
The inquest, which is expected to examine why there were no barriers to protect pedestrians on London Bridge, continues.