Terrorist attack in London

[RandBlade]

Breaking News: B&Q (DIY superstore) van drives over 15 to 20 people on London Bridge.

[Loki]

Sky reporting that there was a stabbing immediately afterward.

[Hazir]

Police in the UK still aren't armed?

[Timbuk2]

Van runs along the road at about 50mph on London Bridge, then swerves onto the pavement into a crowd of people mowing them down. Three suspects jump out, wearing fake explosive vests, and start stabbing people, running to nearby Borough Market where the stabbings continued.

6 dead 48 injured so far.

Police in the UK still aren't armed?

Armed police are now routinely at tourist hotspots - London Bridge isn't. Borough Market is moreso, but during the day when the market is open and it is thriving, not at night when the stabbings took place, where there are just a few pubs, bars and restaurants open surrounding the market itself. My office is along the South Bank five minutes from here, and I regularly walk through Borough Market.

Though armed police had shot the three suspects eight minutes after the first call was made to emergency services, which is swift. One of those stabbed immediately was a policeman. All officers wear stab-proof vests.

[Timbuk2]

Death toll up to 7.

[Veldan Rath]

But hey, didn't the mayor say this was the new normal or some such?

[Aimless]

*shrug* "Normal" and "tragic" or "undesirable" are not mutually exclusive descriptors.

Visiting London will feel very strange this time around.

[Loki]

But hey, didn't the mayor say this was the new normal or some such?

You might want to stop following Trump and Breitbart.

Twitter Link

[Veldan Rath]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk...-a7322846.html

I think he said something different than what you and I thought Loki.

[Loki]

The take away point from all this: terrorists can't destroy the British way of life.

Twitter Link

[RandBlade]

LOL Loki

Twitter Link

[Timbuk2]

London attack: Spanish 'skateboard hero' EcheverrÃ*a missing



A Madrid man is missing in London after he used his skateboard against one of the jihadists, who was stabbing a woman, Spanish media report.

Ignacio EcheverrÃ*a, 39, saw the attack unfolding at London Bridge on Saturday night, and rushed to help the woman.

The HSBC employee, from Madrid, is one of a number of people who put their personal safety at risk in order to help others during the attack, which left seven people dead and 48 injured.

Friends with him at the time told his family what had happened.

Reports say Mr EcheverrÃ*a is not listed among the dead. His sister has gone to London hospitals, but there is no news of him being among the injured.
In a message on Facebook his father JoaquÃ*n EcheverrÃ*a urged members of the public to help find his son, posting details of Ignacio.
At least one other Spaniard is in a London hospital, lightly injured after the terror attack at London Bridge.

Reports say Ignacio EcheverrÃ*a came upon the scene at London Bridge while cycling back from a park with two friends, with whom he had been skateboarding.
In a Facebook post, his father said "They saw him lying on the floor on the sidewalk after defending someone with his skateboard".
Apparently Ignacio did not have ID on him at the time. The Spanish embassy and HSBC Bank, his employer in London, are helping to search for him.

This is one of my colleagues.
Is in my wider team and sits along my banks of desks.

Still missing. His parents must be going crazy right now.

[Hazir]

That's a strange situation? The number of victims is not so big that a quick process of elimination shouldn't be enough to figure out where he wound up.

[RandBlade]

This is one of my colleagues.
Is in my wider team and sits along my banks of desks.

Still missing. His parents must be going crazy right now.

Damn I hope he's ok.

[Timbuk2]

Spoke to Ignacio's manager this morning.He's been in contact with the family.

Still no news yet.

[RandBlade]

Might be in shock, good that he's been in contact but still hope he's safe.

[Steely Glint]

Might be in shock, good that he's been in contact but still hope he's safe.

I think he meant the managers been in contact.

[Hazir]

I think he meant the managers been in contact.

That's how I read it.

[Timbuk2]

Yes that wasn't clear. The manager has been in touch with Ignacio's family. No one has heard from Ignacio himself yet or knows his whereabouts.

He was with friends at the time of the attack, so you'd think they'd have seen what happened after he was last seen lying on the pavement. Unless the friends were told to run by the police, as just about everyone was it seems, leaving him on the pavement, and that really was the last time anybody who knew him saw him. Must have been such chaos and panic, difficult to speculate.

[Loki]

Roy Larner, 47, told reporters he shouted “Fuck you, I’m Millwall” – in an allusion to the club’s association with football violence – as he charged into the attackers in the Black & Blue restaurant and bar in Borough Market.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...idge-attackers

[Timbuk2]

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/...idge-attackers

Terrorists, meet beered-up Brit football fan.

[Timbuk2]

Relatives press UK for news of Spaniard missing since London attack

Ignacio EcheverrÃ*a is said to have confronted one of the assailants and has not been heard from since.

Relatives of Ignacio EcheverrÃ*a, the 39-year-old Spaniard missing since the London Bridge attacks three days ago, have joined the Spanish government in asking British authorities why it is taking so long to find out what has happened to him.

EcheverrÃ*a, who is from Madrid but lives in London and works for HSBC, has been hailed as a hero for apparently using his skateboard to take on the London Bridge attackers.

He is thought to have been skateboarding in a park when he stopped to defend a woman who had been injured in the attack near Borough Market. Friends who were with him at the time said he fell to the ground after confronting one of the assailants. He has not been heard from since.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday evening, EcheverrÃ*a’s brother JoaquÃ*n said the family had still heard nothing and that the British authorities had told them they might have to wait 24 or 48 hours for information.

Fernando Vergara, who is understood to be EcheverrÃ*a’s brother-in-law, said the delay in establishing the missing man’s fate was unacceptable.

EcheverrÃ*a’s family have made numerous appeals for information on social media, and his sister Isabel has spent hours trying to visit hospitals in London in the hope of finding her brother alive.

She told the news site El Confidencial that Theresa May’s government “isn’t giving out information because of how close the election is”.

Writing on Facebook, she thanked the Spanish airline Iberia for organising flights to bring her family to London and praised HSBC and the Spanish consulate in London for their support.

The Spanish foreign minister, Alfonso Dastis, spoke to his British counterpart, Boris Johnson, on Monday night to ask for efforts to identify victims of the attack to be stepped up so as not to “add to the pain and anguish of the families”.

Dastis told the Spanish news agency Efe: “We’re pushing the British authorities because, frankly, this isn’t the kind of thing that can go on and on.”

Johnson apparently told Dastis that the process was moving as fast as possible but added that procedures needed to be followed to prevent misidentification.

The missing man’s parents flew to London on Tuesday to join other relatives and await news. Ignacio’s father, JoaquÃ*n EcheverrÃ*a, said the authorities had not shared any information with them and he feared the worst.

“We’ve had no news and at the moment, given that the wounded have been identified, I’m very pessimistic,” the Spanish daily El PaÃ*s reported him as saying. “By now you would have thought he’d have been identified and it seems he’s not among the wounded.”

A spokesman for Spain’s foreign ministry told the Guardian on Tuesday evening that despite pressing the British government to expedite its inquiries, it had no update on EcheverrÃ*a’s condition or whereabouts.

Sounding really quite strange, like the authorities know what's happened to him but aren't releasing information. I can't see what relevance the election tomorrow has on witholding information, particularly from the man's family.

[Loki]

None of that makes sense.

[Timbuk2]

Just heard the news from our Group manager, and it's now public.

'Skateboard hero' Ignacio Echeverria confirmed dead by grieving family after London terror attack



The "skateboard hero" who died while reportedly protecting a woman from Saturday night's terror attack has been confirmed dead after the family suffered an agonising wait for news.

The sister of 39-year-old Ignacio Echeverria wrote on Facebook: "Our heart is with our uncles and aunts and cousins, Guillermo Gonzalez Arnau, Javi and guille and all the friends and family who have lost my brother".

The Spanish Government paid tribute to his bravery, writing that he showed "solidarity and bravery in defending a helpless person".

Mr Echeverria worked in money laundering prevention at HSBC and was a keen skateboarder.

He was coming back from skateboarding when he stumbled across the terror attack at Borough Market.

Instead of fleeing the scene, he reportedly saw a man stabbing a defenceless woman and ran to her aid.

In doing so, he was reportedly killed by one of the three terrorists who senselessly murdered eight people at London Bridge.

The Spanish Government wrote: "With deep sadness and dismay, the government has received confirmation from the British authorities that Ignacio EcheverrÃ*a is among the fatal victims of the cruel terrorist attacks on London last Saturday.

"The government wishes to convey to his relatives and friends that they are not alone in their pain, and that, today, Spain is with them, sharing their feelings and desolation and joined with them in this terrible moment.

"The exemplary attitude shown by Ignacio EcheverrÃ*a during the attacks is a demonstration of solidarity for all to see. His bravery in defending a helpless person serves as a reminder of the need to remain united before the scourge of terrorism, facing up to those whose only language is one of violence and terror. The government believes strongly that unity among democrats can overcome many challenges, including terrorist madness."

The search for Mr Echeverria has caused strain between the Spanish government and our own, with multiple senior Spanish politicians hitting out at British authorities for putting the family of a missing Spaniard through an "inhumane wait" after a body thought to be his was found after Saturday's attack.

The family was asked for fingerprints from Mr Echeverria on Monday, but had to wait until Wednesday afternoon for confirmation of his death.

On Wednesday, Spain's interior minister demanded British authorities speed up efforts to locate "skateboard hero" Ignacio EcheverrÃ*a, missing since the London Bridge attack, complaining that the delay is "inhumane" to his family.

Juan Ignacio Zoido called on the UK to provide answers within 24 hours, after the EcheverrÃ*a family were reportedly told it could take up to another 48 hours to identify their son.

Mr Zoido told Spanish public radio that he found it "very strange that it takes so long to identify a person, above all taking into account how the facts (of the attack) have been established".

He suggested it was now evident that the Spaniard was among the dead, following the submission of fingerprints, but that UK protocol demanded identification by DNA.

"The family of Ignacio EcheverrÃ*a is going through an inhumane and desperate situation", Mr Zoido added.

The delay has also drawn strong criticism from commentators. On Wednesday morning, one of Spain's best known broadcasters, Carlos Herrera, used his radio show to accuse British authorities of "humiliating treatment" of the EcheverrÃ*as and a "third-world" handling of the identification process.

Pepe Oneto wrote in a column for La Republica that if a British family were awaiting answers for four days in Spain, the UK tabloids would be complaining "the Spanish are having a siesta, disgrace of a country, the sun has gone to their heads".

Earlier, the Spanish Foreign minister criticised British authorities for not acting quickly enough to identify a Spaniard believed to have been killed in Saturday’s attack.

Foreign Minister Alfonso Dastis said the UK government must to do ‘everything humanly possible’ to inform the family of the fate of 39-year-old lawyer Ignacio EcheverrÃ*a, who was last seen fighting off the terrorists with his skateboard.

"We are pressing British authorities because, frankly, this is a situation that can’t be extended for much longer,” said Mr Dastis on Tuesday as he warned efforts must be accelerated ‘to the maximum’ in order to avoid ‘more anguish and pain’ for the family.

Relatives of Mr EcheverrÃ*a have tweeted 10 Downing Street calling for Theresa May to do more to speed up the process.

[Aimless]

[Khendraja'aro]

Well, damn. Also the Spanish are quite correct in their criticism that this took way too long.

[Hazir]

Hopefully something the Brits will learn about procedure.

Too bad he turned out to be dead.

[LittleFuzzy]

I'm sorry Timbuk.

I'd figured when there still hadn't been any news after Friday that he hadn't made it and the hospital/coroner was following a strict protocol on publicly confirming id when family could not physically come in to do so but this thread didn't seem the appropriate place to talk about that. Or try and score political points.

[RandBlade]

[Dreadnaught]

Really sorry about your co worker Timbuk, and all the lives lost to these low-grade idiots.