Hundreds of people on Thursday paid tribute in central London to the victims of a terror attack outside British Parliament a day earlier which left four people dead and dozens injured.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan led the tributes in a heavily-policed Trafalgar Square, vowing “Londoners will never be cowed by terrorism” after a 52-year-old British-born man went on the rampage at Westminster.
“The victims were people who came from all corners of our world,” he said.
Photo: EPA
Standing alongside British Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Craig Mackey, the acting commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police, Khan lit a candle in an act mirrored by the crowds gathered in the famous square.
A man draped in Britain’s union flag was among those lighting candles placed on sand, while others left flowers in the square.
Messages of defiance were brought to the vigil, including a “Hate will not divide us” sign held by a member of the public and “We are not afraid” written on the ground.
Retiree Wendy Scott was among the hundreds of people who came to Trafalgar Square to express her solidarity with victims of the attack.
“We will carry on,” she said, before laying a bunch of daffodils in the square.
Naveed Mirza, a Muslim student, said he had received “overwhelming” support since the attack described by police as “Islamist-related terrorism.”
“We have come to say how, as Muslims, we unequivocally condemn all the violent actions that took place yesterday,” he said.
“People have been coming to us, they have been very supportive telling us we should have nothing to fear,” Mirza added.
The Islamic State group claimed one of its “soldiers” was behind the attack in which a British woman, a US man and a London policeman were killed.
A fourth victim died on Thursday, London police said, without releasing his name or nationality.
The 75-year-old man had been receiving medical treatment in the hospital following the attack and life support was withdrawn on Thursday evening, a police statement said.
The Metropolitan Police earlier the same day held a meeting of faith leaders to discuss how to tackle “the discord, distrust and fear that terrorists seek to create.”
Police officers in Trafalgar Square were approached by numerous people who offered their condolences for the death of their colleague, who was stabbed to death outside parliament by a man police named as Khalid Masood.
“I told them I’m sorry for your loss and we stand by you for your work,” said Anne-Marie Wilson, a 53-year-old charity worker.
“They have lost a brother, it could have been any one of us,” she said.
Masood initially drove across Westminster Bridge, ploughing into pedestrians before crashing the car and stabbing police officer Keith Palmer, before being shot by police.
Forty people were injured in total, including one person who are battling life-threatening injuries and five in a critical condition.
Additional reporting by AP
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese