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The terror rampage through London has resulted in the deaths of six victims, while 3 assailants have been shot and killed by police.
The Metropolitan Police’s head of counter-terrorism Mark Rowley said early Sunday that police believe all the attackers were killed but are conducting further investigation to make certain this is the case.Rowley says the suspects were confronted and shot by police “within eight minutes of the first call.”Rowley says the three attackers were wearing what appeared to be suicide vests but they turned out to be hoaxes.
Given the nature of the attacks, and the multiple locations, different official statements and first person accounts have been streaming in since the incident occurred. Here is what is known as of 12:30 am EST, beyond what has been provided in the initial reports
- There were multiple casualties in addition to the fatalities with London Ambulance Service saying they have taken at least 30 people to five hospitals in the capital.
- A British Transport Police officer was stabbed in the face as he responded to the incident at London Bridge.
- Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation hospital said it was “on lockdown” to keep patients, relatives and staff safe.
- Authorities responded to a third incident, a stabbing at Vauxhall, but this was not connected to the events around London Bridge.
- Theresa May, the prime minster, has called the events a “terrible incident’’ that is being treated as a “potential act of terrorism’’.
- Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, thanked emergency services after the “brutal and shocking incidents reported in London”.
- London mayor Sadiq Khan condemned the “barbaric” and “horrific” attack as “deliberate and cowardly”.
- Guests at some hotels in the vicinity of the attacks have been evacuated.
- Security services have carried out a number of controlled explosions in the area of the attacks.
It is being reported that some of the throats of victims were slashed during the stabbing attacks, and one of the attackers shouted, “This is for Allah!”
One report suggested throats had been slashed by the marauders, likely to be Islamic State-inspired terrorists – although that had not been confirmed by the early hours of this morning.One eyewitness spoke of the men shouting “this is for Allah” as they stabbed indiscriminately.
Londoners are responding as the people in Manchester did following the Ariana Grande Concert attack: By opening up their homes as part of a #SofaForLondon social network response.
Nadine Stares said: “Sofabed available if you are stranded due to this sad incident at London Bridge #SofaForLondon”.Another Twitter user who gave his name as Ben Andrews, wrote: “If anyone is caught in London Bridge incident needs place to sleep, we have a spare room 10mins walk away from #London Bridge #sofaforlondon.”
There are numerous accounts of Londoners using chairs, bottles, and other objects to fend of the attackers.
…Gerard Vowls, 47, had been watching the Champions League final at the Ship pub in Borough. He was at the start of the south side of London Bridge and saw a woman being stabbed by three men 10 or 15 times.“She was going, ‘Help me, help me’ and I couldn’t do nothing,” he said. “I want to know if this girl is still alive. I’ve been walking around for an hour and a half crying my eyes out. I don’t know what to do.”Vowls said he was throwing chairs, glasses and bottles at the attackers in a bid to stop them.“They kept coming to try to stab me … they were stabbing everyone. Evil, evil people.”It took at least 10 minutes for armed police to reach the scene, he added.
Multiple causalities are reported after a van plowed into pedestrians at London Bridge and a stabbing attack at a market. There have been multiple deaths.
Authorities are now calling these terrorist attacks.
A van mowed down pedestrians as it sped down London Bridge in the British capital Saturday night, leaving bodies lying in the roadway, a witness to the incident told CNN.
Also Saturday, two men entered a restaurant at Borough Market, just south of the Bridge, and stabbed two people inside, a witness told CNN on Saturday. The patrons sheltered in the basement and police have arrived at the scene, the witness said.. . . . Mark Roberts, the witness on the bridge, said the van was traveling south across the River Thames at a high rate of speed and was swerving as it struck several people, knocking one person “about 20 feet into the air.”The van swerved into oncoming lanes before hitting a bus stop and coming to a stop, Roberts said.”Within my line of sight, there were five or six people on the ground that were not moving,” he said. “It looked to me that the van was aiming at the people.”
Witnesses claim to have heard gunshots.
CNN continues:
Roberts said he heard what sounded like gunshots about 10 minutes later. He estimated 100 people were on the bridge at the time, fewer than earlier in the night because it was getting late.”I froze, to be honest,” Roberts said. “As I was thinking … which direction should I run, the van swerved across the other side of the bridge from me.”
At this time, the attack appears to have been coordinated.
As many as three different incidents, one described as terror-related, were unfolding in London late Saturday, the most serious appearing to be a van crashing into a crowd on London Bridge.In addition, police warned people to stay away from nearby Borough Market and the Vauxhall area — about a mile away — as they looked into separate incidents.Sources told Sky News the London Bridge crash was being investigated as a “terrorist incident.”
We will keep you updated as this story develops.
UPDATE:
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UK Prime Minister Teresa May is now saying the coordinated attacks are “potential terrorism and has returned to Downing Street.
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President Trump expresses his support for and solidarity with the UK.
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