This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/03/world/europe/london-attacks-scene.html

The article has changed 12 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 3 Version 4
London Attacks: ‘It Was Utter Horror’ London Attacks: ‘It Was Utter Horror’
(about 7 hours later)
LONDON — The bars and streets near the Thames River were packed with “innocent Londoners and visitors to our city enjoying their Saturday night,” as Mayor Sadiq Khan would soon put it. LONDON — It was a warm, drizzly Saturday night, and the bars at Borough Market in London were packed, as usual. Tucked below an offramp of London Bridge, near the banks of the Thames, the market is a warren of narrow streets populated with trendy bars and restaurants, where some people had just finished watching the Champions League soccer final.
Suddenly, a white van began swerving on London Bridge, hitting pedestrians, in a scene hauntingly reminiscent of the deadly chaos on Westminster Bridge in March. Then came the loud bang of a crashing van. Then came three men slashing at patrons with knives. Then screams, sirens, chaos — and, finally, gunfire as arriving police officers shot the three assailants dead.
“We were close to the bridge, about to drive over it and then traffic suddenly stopped,” said a witness, Lorna Murray. ”People got out of their cars and started running towards us.” “A huge group of people started running towards us,” said Graham Forester, who was in a taxi arriving at Borough Market as the attack unfolded. “One woman screamed at my cabby, telling him to turn around. One guy fell over really badly, while he was running, and I saw a pool of blood on the pavement.
“Police and ambulances rushed to the scene and told us to get out of our cars and get as far away as possible,” Ms. Murray said, adding, “we saw the white van that apparently rammed into people.” “A group of young girls, dolled up for the night, were running in their high heels, crying.”
The attack on the bridge, soon followed by reports of stabbings at a nearby night life district, came as Britain was still reeling from the bombing at an Ariana Grande concert last month in Manchester, which took the lives of 22 people, including children and teenagers. Parts of the area around the market remained cordoned off by police on Sunday morning, as the authorities continued to investigate the three men who carried out Britain’s third major terrorist attack in less than three months. Seven people were killed, with dozens more injured, some in critical condition. As yet, little is known about the assailants, but if their goal was to sow fear by striking a location teeming with people, Borough Market and nearby London Bridge were, sadly, ideal targets.
But while the Manchester attack appeared to have been carried out by a lone bomber, Saturday night’s violence was the work of at least three people, officials said Sunday morning, as the assailants drove from the bridge to Borough Market, where the police fatally shot them. In addition to the three attackers, six people were killed, and 48 were hospitalized. Popular with tourists and teeming with night life, London Bridge is a transport hub, with an adjacent rail and underground station near tourist attractions such as The Shard, the city’s tallest building; Shakespeare’s Globe Theater; and the Tate Modern art gallery. The area was filled with people at 10:08 p.m. when a white van roared across the bridge, jumping the curb and plowing over pedestrians on the sidewalk.
Video from a crowded bar near the bridge showed patrons in a cavernous space being ordered to the ground by police officers and huddling under tables to protect themselves. “We were close to the bridge, about to drive over it, and then traffic suddenly stopped,” said a witness, Lorna Murray. “People got out of their cars and started running towards us.”
The Novotel London Tower Bridge hotel was evacuated shortly after the attack. Alarms inside the hotel rang out, and members of the staff went door-to-door telling guests to get out. “We saw the white van that apparently rammed into people,” she added.
Dozens of panicked guests sprinted across Southwark Bridge, many of them in their dressing gowns. Children were crying, and guests were huddled up, waiting in the cold. As victims lay strewn on the bridge, the van crashed into a guardrail along an offramp above Borough Market. Three men jumped out carrying long knives and raced into the area of the market. Patrons who had spent an evening n pubs or restaurants suddenly realized they were under attack.
“I was asleep and didn’t even know anything was going on until the alarm went off and we were told to evacuate the hotel immediately,” said Emily Sutton, who was sitting on a bench wrapped in a duvet. “We heard a massive bang,” another witness, Andrew, told the LBC news channel late Saturday night. He had been standing under an umbrella outside a bar when the attackers rushed in. “I turned around on the right, and there was a guy with a big knife, I mean a big knife.”
“When we got out there were police and sirens everywhere,” she said. “People running and screaming. It was utter horror. This is a nightmare.” Andrew said he jumped over a small fence, ran a distance and then hid behind a bush. “There was already a dead guy laying on the floor,” he said. He set out running again, shouting at people to flee. “I told every bar and restaurant on the way: ‘Get out of here! Everybody, out! Out! Out!’”
As was the case after the Manchester blast, panic gripped the scene of the attack, with controlled explosions set off by the police only adding to fears. People worried that more attackers could be on the loose. The rampage lasted only eight minutes before police vehicles arrived at the scene. Almost immediately, officers began ordering people to leave the area, even as they confronted the three assailants. Each of the men was wearing what appeared to be an explosive vest — but those later turned out to be fake. A British Transport Police officer was injured as other officers shot and killed the assailants.
“This is a complete nightmare, we are stuck here while there are maniacs on the loose and nobody is helping us,” said Danny Farre, as she walked down the street, carrying her 9-year-old daughter on her shoulders. “They could be anywhere, this is out of control.” No one knew if the attack was over, or if other assailants remained at large.
Les Hunter, 33, from Liverpool, was visiting a friend in London. When he stepped outside from a pub at about 10:15 p.m., “we saw people running out of Borough Market and straight after heard gunshots,” he said. Hotels in the area were evacuated. Alarms went off inside deserted lobbies, as members of the staff went door-to-door telling guests to get out.
“We went back into the pub and people starting running in telling us to get down and hide,” he recalled. “I ran up to the gents and hid, but when I looked out the window I saw a guy with blood all over his face and T-shirt.” Panicked people sprinted across bridges, many of them in their pajamas. Children were crying, and some hotel guests were huddled up, waiting in the cold.
After the attack, helicopters hovered over the London Bridge area. The area has been a center for entertainment and carousing for centuries — dating back to Geoffrey Chaucer — a watering hole where Londoners have gathered to drink and pass the time. “I was asleep and didn’t even know anything was going on until the alarm went off and we were told to evacuate the hotel immediately,” said Emily Sutton, a guest at the Novotel London Tower Bridge, across the river, who was sitting on a bench wrapped in a duvet.
But inside the security cordon early Sunday morning, the streets and back alleys around London Bridge were eerily deserted. “When we got out there were police and sirens everywhere,” she said. “People running and screaming. It was utter horror.”
Another guest, Danny Farre, walked down the street, carrying her 9-year-old daughter on her shoulders. “This is a complete nightmare; we are stuck here while there are maniacs on the loose and nobody is helping us,” she said. “They could be anywhere. This is out of control.”
But the police quickly took control of the situation, rushing into some bars and ordering patrons to lie on the ground as they searched for possible suspects. A report of another attack in Vauxhall quickly raised fears that some sort of broader, coordinated assault was underway, until the authorities later established that the event was unrelated.
In the dark early hours of Sunday, some parts of Central London remained on high alert. . Sirens wailed as ambulances rushed the injured to hospitals across the city. Helicopters hovered over the Borough Market area, as crowds of people continued to evacuate the area. Elsewhere, the city operated as normal, and patrons continued to pour into bars and restaurants less than a mile away.
Inside the police cordon around Borough Market, beer glasses sat on a table in the street. Abandoned shops and hotels were left wide open. Les Hunter, 33, was among the crowds that had managed to get away. From Liverpool, Mr. Hunter was visiting a friend in London and stepped out of a pub about 10:15 p.m. He saw people fleeing and heard gunshots.
“We went back into the pub and people starting running in telling us to get down and hide,” he recalled. “I ran up to the gents and hid, but when I looked out the window, I saw a guy with blood all over his face and T-shirt.”