7 DEAD,48
INJURED AS VAN AND KNIFING INCIDENT CAUSE PANIC IN LONDON
BY
ABDULMUMINI ADEKU,HOLLY JONES
The News
office Desk of Paedia Express Multimedia Group in Lagos,Nigeria can now
confirm that at least 7 people are now believed to be dead with another 48
injured in a knifing incident that has shaken the city centre to its
foundations as at press time.
Sources say
that authorities at the London Metropolitan POlice and Scotland Yard moved in
under 8minutes that the unfortunate incident took place.
This reporter
will continue to keep track of incidents as the war on terror rages with more developments expected to happen over the coming days due to
last nights incident.
It would be
recalled that this same reporter had shouted himself hoarse over the social
media while advising President Muhammadu Buhari not to go to Europe for a
medical vacation as a private person due to the fragile nature of the security at
this time but was flagged down.
The
arrests in Barking, east London, followed a raid at a flat belonging to one of
the three attackers.
A van hit
pedestrians on London Bridge at about 22:00 BST on Saturday. Three men then got
out and stabbed people in nearby Borough Market; the attackers were shot dead
by police minutes later.
Condemning
the attack, Theresa May said it was "time to say enough is enough".
Twenty-one
people injured in the attack are in a critical condition, NHS England has said.
Controlled
explosions were carried out at the flat in Barking during the raids on Sunday
morning.
According
to neighbours, the dead attacker lived there for about three years and was
married with two children.
It is the
third terror attack in the UK in three months, following the car and knife
attack in Westminster in March, in which five people were killed, and the
Manchester bombing less than two weeks ago, in which 22 people were killed.
Most political parties have suspended national general election
campaigning, but the prime minister said full campaigning would
resume on Monday.
The general
election will go ahead as planned on Thursday.
Eyewitnesses
to the attack described a van travelling at high speed along London Bridge,
hitting pedestrians, before crashing close to the Barrowboy and Banker pub.
Three men
then got out wearing fake bomb vests and began attacking people in the nearby
market - an area known for its bars and restaurants, which were busy on a warm
summer evening.
Image
copyright AFP Image caption Flowers are being laid near the scene in London
Bridge
Four
police officers who tried to stop the attack were among those injured, two of
them seriously.
One of
them was an off-duty officer and amateur rugby player who tackled one
of the terrorists, suffering stab wounds.
Another,
a British Transport Police officer who joined the force less than two years
ago, took on the attackers armed with only his baton.
Metropolitan
Police Commissioner Cressida Dick praised their "extraordinary
bravery".
The three
suspects were shot dead within eight minutes of the first 999 call being received.
Media
captionEyewitness: "They were running and stabbing everyone" Image
copyright Reuters Image caption Armed police are searching flats in Barking,
east London
Among the
main developments:
- More than 80 medics were sent to the scene. The injured, some of them in critical condition, are being treated in five London hospitals
- The Met Police has set up a casualty bureau on 0800 096 1233 and 020 7158 0197 for people concerned about friends or relatives
- A Canadian national was among those killed, the country's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said
- Two Australian citizens "have been directly impacted," says the country's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull
- Four French citizens have been injured, one seriously, according to foreign minister Jean-Yves Le Drian
- There will be a minute's silence on Tuesday at 11:00 BST in remembrance of those who lost their lives and all others affected by the attacks, Downing Street has said
- Prime Minister Theresa May has made a private visit to King's College Hospital in south London to visit the injured
BBC
reporter Holly Jones, who was on the bridge, said the van was "probably
travelling at about 50 miles an hour" and hit "five or six
people".
According
to another witness, Eric, the men inside jumped out once the van crashed and
"ran towards the people that they nearly ran over".
"[Then]
they literally just started kicking them, punching them, they took out
knives... it was a rampage really," he said.
One man,
Gerard, told the BBC he saw a woman being stabbed "10 or 15 times" by
men shouting "This is for Allah".
Steven
Gibbs, who was drinking in a pub metres from the scene, told the BBC: "A
black cab drove past and the driver shouted, 'Terrorist attack, run!'
"I
stood up to take a look and then all of a sudden there were gunshots. Lots of
people were screaming."
#SofaforLondon
Hundreds
of people were left stranded after being unable to return to their homes and hotels.
As with
the Manchester attack, there were stories
of Londoners coming to each other's aide, offering free taxi rides,
free accommodation or just the opportunity to call friends and family - many
using the hashtag on social media #sofaforLondon.
Media
captionWatch: The man who took the attackers' photo
Speaking
in Downing Street after a meeting of the government's emergency Cobra
committee, the prime minister said the country "cannot and must not
pretend that things can continue as they are".
"We
believe we are experiencing a new trend in the threat we face as terrorism
breeds terrorism," she said.
Mrs May
said the counter-terrorism strategy would be reviewed and the UK would work
with other countries to prevent the internet being a "safe space" for
terrorists.
She said
there was "too much tolerance of extremism in our country" and while
it would involve "some difficult and embarrassing conversations",
that must change.
The
country's terror level remains at severe - meaning an attack is highly likely -
but has not been raised to critical as it was after the Manchester Arena
bombing.
Home
Secretary Amber Rudd said: "We're staying at severe because we think they
have got all the main perpetrators."
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