London terror attack: Photographer describes moment he saw attacker lying on ground with canister strapped to his body

Terror in London: A man lies on the ground with what appear to be canisters strapped to his chest
(Instagram / @fried_chicken)
Hatty Collier4 June 2017

A photographer has told of the moment he saw an attacker lying on the ground with what appeared to be canisters strapped to his chest after a terror rampage at London Bridge and Borough Market.

Gabriele Sciotto, who had been in the area watching the Champions League Final, said he ran towards the scene of the attack after three alleged assailants mowed down a crowd of pedestrians on the bridge before stabbing people in the Borough Market area.

Scotland Yard has confirmed six people have died in the terror rampage which began shortly after 10pm on Saturday. The three attackers were shot dead by armed officers.

Police added the 'explosive vests' worn by the three men turned out to be fakes.

Mr Sciotto said the three men were shot by police and he photographed one of them lying on the ground with what appeared to be canisters strapped to his chest. Another alleged suspect can be seen lying on the floor in the background.

He told BBC News: “I came in after the men stabbed some other men. I ran towards the scene because I noticed this man with this kind of explosive looking belt on his chest, they were running.

“A police officer was trying to put himself between them and the crowd.

“After that they were almost coming towards me and I tried to run away. Then they were going towards the main street. At that point, I ran towards them.

“More police came over, I guess they were on radio or something because in around like two or five seconds they shot all the three men down. That is what I honestly saw.

“I was just looking for the truth of the situation.”

Describing what appeared to be canisters strapped to the man’s chest, he said: “The first sight I thought it wasn’t anything real, it didn’t look real to me but I’m not like the person who could honestly say if they were real or not because I have no experience.

“They looked like just a toy to me.”

He added: “I’ve been in situations like this before, I don’t think you realise how scary it can possibly be until you put yourself into it, a police man could have shot me because it was me, the police and these three men so I was lucky definitely.”

London Bridge and Borough Market terrorist attack

1/30

Armed police placed London Bridge on lockdown after the white van careered into crowds, while officers raced to the scene of the stabbings outside a pub in Borough Market. Police attended a third incident in Vauxhall which was not confirmed to be terror-related.

Witnesses who were enjoying nights out in pubs and bars in the area were warned to barricade themselves indoors, while people on the streets surrounding London Bridge began to run for their lives.

At about 1.30am up to four blasts were heard near to London Bridge Street. It is not clear if these were controlled explosions by police on the scene.

A woman is helped to an ambulance at London Bridge
Daniel Sorabji/AFP/Getty Images

Prime Minister Theresa May, who will chair an emergency cobra meeting on Sunday morning, said she was being updated by officials on the "fast-moving" situation, adding: "I can confirm that the terrible incident in London is being treated as a potential act of terrorism."

Scotland Yard said in a series of tweets: “From 10.08pm, officers responded to reports of a vehicle in collision with pedestrians on London Bridge.

“Officers have then responded to reports of stabbings in Borough Market. Armed officers responded and shots have been fired.

“Officers are now responding to an incident in the Vauxhall area.

"At 0025hrs 4/6/17 the incidents at #LondonBridge & #BoroughMarket were declared as terrorist incidents.

"The incident at #Vauxhall is a stabbing and is not connect to the incidents at #LondonBridge & #BoroughMarket."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in