London terror attack: Londoners ‘tried to fight off terrorists with pint glasses and bar stools’

‘I was shouting run, run, run and throwing bottles at them, pint glasses, stools, chairs’

An eyewitness has described how he attempted to fight back at the men behind the London Bridge attack using pint glasses and barstools.

At least seven people were killed after three suspected terrorists rammed pedestrians with a truck and began stabbing people in central London, with scores more injured in hospital.

Police shot and killed the three suspected attackers.

:: Follow latest live updates following the deadly London attack

A passer-by named Gerard Vowels said he was in the area when the rampage began.

“I saw a geezer on the floor saying ‘I’ve been stabbed, I’ve been stabbed’ so I looked at him and he had blood all down him,” he told the BBC.

“Then I saw these three Muslim guys come up with knives, they ran up and started stabbing this girl under the train bridge. They attacked her and then they stabbed another guy.

“I was shouting ‘run, run, run’ and throwing bottles at them, pint glasses, stools, chairs. I tried to help as many people as I could but I was defenceless. If I had fallen over they probably would have killed me.”

There were separate reports of other drinkers taking similar measures in an attempt to stop the attackers.

Mr Vowels said he saw the men stab the girl up to 15 times.

“I cried for one hour,” he added. “I didn’t know what I was doing, I was on another planet.”

Another report of heroism on the night came from a taxi driver, who tried to use his vehicle to stop the attackers.

After seeing a “young girl stabbed in the chest” on London Bridge, the driver, identified only as Chris, told his customer he was “going to ram him”.

Speaking to LBC, Chris continued: “I turned around and tried, but he side-stepped me.

“I spun the cab round, I was about to ram one of them, but he side-stepped and three police officers came running towards them with their batons drawn, they didn’t know what was happening.

“There was a guy with a really long blade randomly stabbing people. I told people to turn around and run away.”

Chris said the attack sickened him “to the pit of my stomach”.

General election campaigning has been suspended following the attack, the second the country has experienced in less than a month.

Theresa May said: “Our thoughts are with those who are caught up in these dreadful events.”

The Government’s Cobra emergency committee will meet on today, Downing Street said.