Tourist knocked off Westminster bridge in terror spree dies 2 weeks after attack
THE woman who fell into the Thames during the Westminster Bridge terror attack has died two weeks on.
Andreea Cristea, from Romania, who is the fifth victim of the attack, was on a trip to London with boyfriend Andrei Burnaz, who was planning to propose that day, when Khalid Masood drove into them.
The 31-year-old architect was knocked into the river and later pulled unconscious from the water by a lifeboat crew.
She had emergency surgery for a brain clot at St Bartholomew’s Hospital after the attack on March 22, but her life support was switched off on Thursday.
Yesterday her distraught family said: ‘Our beloved and irreplaceable Andreea – the most unique and life-loving person – was cruelly and brutally ripped away from our lives in the most heartless way. She will always be remembered as our shining ray of light that will forever keep on shining in our hearts.’
Her 29-year-old boyfriend, who suffered a broken foot, had remained by her bedside and was said to be ‘destroyed’ by her death. After the atrocity, his mother Violeta said Mr Burnaz staggered around the bridge screaming his girlfriend’s name as he looked for her, unaware she was 20ft below him, face-down in the water.
Friends described the couple, who had dated for two years and were planning to move in together, as ‘deeply in love’.
Miss Cristea, who came from the city Constanta, was the daughter of a surgeon and a pharmacist.
Well-wishers donated more than £3,000 to aid her recovery but that cash will now be given to charity, her family said. They also thanked the police and doctors who fought to save Miss Cristea.
The other victims were motherof-two Aysha Frade, 44, Clapham resident Leslie Rhode, 75, US tourist Kurt Cochran, 54, and PC Keith Palmer, whom Masood stabbed before being shot dead by police. Six remain in hospital with injuries not thought to be life-threatening.