A Launceston woman holidaying in London has described the moment she saw police cars speeding past after another terror attack in the United Kingdom.
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Jodie Lowe was enjoying her second last night in the capital city when news broke of the London Bridge tragedy, which saw at least six people killed and more than 30 seriously injured.
Heading home from the theatre, Mrs Lowe was forced to walk back to her hotel after her train was cancelled.
It was during her journey back that she realised something had gone horribly wrong.
“I could see a whole lot of police cars, they were quite loud and were driving quite quick and it was pretty obvious something had happened … then suddenly it was all over the news,” she said.
“It’s shocking, I’m still in disbelief … it’s just hard to process.”
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The three attackers had driven onto the bridge at high-speed, mowing down pedestrians before getting out of the vehicle and stabbing people at nearby bars and restaurants.
It was a Saturday night and the streets were filled with patrons who reportedly threw chairs, bottles and glasses at the attackers as they used knives to slash their way through crowds.
The suspects were shot dead by police.
Before the attack, Mrs Lowe had planned to visit the bridge on her last day in London.
She said she would still make the trip to the site, but instead to lay flowers and pay respect to those who had been affected by the tragedy.
“I want to keep coming and supporting London,” she said.
“One act of horror can sort of redefine what people remember a place for, but you just have to keep going to those places and showing them support. I think if everyone who travels does that, it creates this very powerful message to these people who commit these horrible crimes that ‘you won’t stop us’.”
Deloraine couple Jade and Katerina Mekon were also in London at the time of the attack and had planned to visit the bridge that night.
“We were thinking about going out that way [on Saturday] night but in the end we decided to stay home and pack to go to Amsterdam … luckily,” Mrs (Jade) Mekon said.
“It's a little bit scary, we were there walking across the bridge only about five days before.”