Add Category
Updated
There are "very real concerns" for two of the Australians who were caught up in the London Bridge terror attack, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says.
- PM "concerned about circumstances" of two Australians caught up in London attack
- Two others are recovering from injuries, taking total number of Australians involved to four
- Mr Turnbull in contact with families of unknown pair, but cannot yet offer any more detail
Two Australians have been confirmed injured in the incident, and Mr Turnbull says there are two more whose condition they cannot yet reveal.
"We can report that two Australians were injured, physically injured in the attack. One, a woman, is recovering in hospital, and another, a man, is returning to Australia," Mr Turnbull said.
"There are two other Australians — so that brings it to a total of four — about whom we have very real concerns.
"But at this stage, we're not able to say anything more. We have been in touch with their families, in close touch with their families, as we seek to find confirmation of the circumstances of the two other Australians."
Mr Turnbull spoke of the "corruption of Islam", and said Australia would not "buckle or bend" to the threat of terrorism.
"As you know, there are around 130,000 Australians living in the UK at any given time, and many Australian visitors, and there were many Australians in the vicinity of the attack," he said.
"This corruption of Islam, this blasphemous corruption of millions of Muslims around the world, trying to poison the religion from the inside and threaten all of our way of life.
"We will never change the way we live. We defy these cowardly criminals. We defy them and we reject the poisonous ideology that they peddle."
The two injured Australians have been identified as Candice Hedge of Brisbane, and Andrew Morrison of Darwin, who both received stab wounds to the neck.
Ms Hedge underwent surgery and is said to be recovering well, while Mr Morrison required stitches when an attacker came at him with a knife.
Seven people have been confirmed dead after the attack, which also left 48 people in hospital.
The attack began shortly after 10:00pm local time, when a van carrying three men struck pedestrians walking across London Bridge. The attackers then began stabbing people throughout the Borough Markets area.
Police shot the three attackers dead, with around 50 rounds of ammunition fired — an "unprecedented" number according to Metropolitan Commissioner assistant commissioner Mark Rowley.
Four homes have since been searched by police, and 12 people have been arrested in connection to the attack.
Topics: terrorism, unrest-conflict-and-war, england, united-kingdom
First posted