Thousands pay tribute to Westminster attack victims

Officers and faith leaders join show of defiance on bridge

Doctors, police officers and faith leaders were among thousands of people who linked hands on Westminster Bridge yesterday in a show of defiance, a week after the terror attack in London.

Men and women of all faiths, ages and walks of life came together for the vigil which culminated in a minute’s silence for the victims.

Among them was Romanian tourist Andrei Burnaz who suffered a broken foot in the attack. He had planned to propose later that day to his girlfriend Andreea Cristea.

Miss Cristea was knocked from the bridge into the River Thames and remains in hospital in a critical but stable condition. Mr Burnaz, who was pushed in a wheelchair, placed a single rose on the bridge.

Organisers of the Hands Across Westminster Bridge event said it had brought “people of all faiths” together, and showed that those who sought to “divide us have failed”.

Mustafa Field, director of the Faiths Forum for London, which helped organise the vigil, said: “This attack tried to divide us and what I’ve seen and I’ve witnessed is that we’ve come stronger in our unity, we’re stronger in our relationships and that we will not be cowed and we will not be defeated.”

The bridge, still adorned with floral tributes to the victims, was closed to traffic during the vigil.

Nurses and doctors from St Thomas’ hospital, where many of the injured were treated, came out to pay their respects. Schoolchildren aged nine and 10 from Al-Sadiq and Al-Zahra Schools clasped yellow roses and held signs which read “Islam says no to terror” and “please don’t kill innocent people” as they walked across the bridge. They laid flowers in the shadow of the Palace of Westminster after walking hand-in-hand.

Police officers, paramedics, religious leaders and members of the public also laid floral tributes – many emotional as they crouched down on the pavement, pausing for a moment to remember the victims.

Rain began to fall as the vigil stopped for a minute’s silence at 2.40pm – the time the first call was made to police exactly seven days ago.

Police officers also held a minute’s silence outside New Scotland Yard.

It has nothing to do with Islam, nothing to do with what we believe in ...