London: The death toll has risen to seven, with 48 others injured, after the London terror attack in which three suspects were shot dead by police. A white van hit pedestrians on London Bridge at about 10 p.m. on Saturday, then three men got out and stabbed people in nearby Borough Market.
Witnesses have described frightening scenes from the attack, in which the three attackers allegedly stabbing pedestrians after running over 20 people with a white van on London Bridge, according to media reports.
The attackers then leaped out and started stabbing passers-by at random after the van had crashed, witnesses said. Police said they responded to the incident on London Bridge at 2208 (2108 GMT).
The men armed with knives left the vehicle and attacked people in the nearby Borough Market area on the south side of the Thames, witnesses said.
“The suspects had been confronted and shot by police within eight minutes of the first call. The suspects were wearing what looked like explosive vests, but these were later established to be hoaxes,” he said.
Another man, who was also reported to be an attacker, was pictured on the ground a short distance away. Witnesses said they heard gunfire in the area. The police said the vests were later established to be hoaxes. A Reuters reporter nearby said he heard loud bangs afterward that may have been controlled explosions.
Armed police shot and killed three suspects, within eight minutes of the original incident on the bridge.
Metropolitan Police have confirmed the incidents are being treated as a terror attack and in their latest update confirmed seven people were killed in the assault.
A witness, also known as Eric, claimed he saw a van driving on the wrong side of the road before three men jumped out and started running towards bars and restaurants, shouting….”
He told BBC Radio 5Live: “The three people literally started kicking them, punching them, and took out knives. It was a rampage really.”
The attack came less than two weeks after a suicide bomber Salman Abedi blew himself up at a concert in Manchester on May 22, killing at least 22.
Britain raised its terror threat to the highest level of “critical” and deployed troops on the streets on May 23, a day after the Manchester suicide attack. The critical level means another attack could be imminent. It was reduced to “severe,” which means an attack is highly likely, on May 27.
On March 22, Khalid Masood plowed a rented car into pedestrians and stabbed a policeman to death before being shot dead. Five were killed by the attacker.
The United Kingdom is due to hold a national election on June 8.
From his side, US President Donald Trump tweeted: “Whatever the United States can do to help out in London and the UK, we will be there WE ARE WITH YOU. GOD BLESS!”
A separate incident in Vauxhall, two miles away, was not related to the other two incidents, police said.
SM/IINA
