The London Bridge terror attackers filmed a week before the attack, near a gym where Khurum Butt worked. From left, Rachid Redouane, Butt and Youssef Zaghba. Picture: The Times UK

The bloodthirsty gang were shot dead before they could make their way back to the van where their petrol bombs were stored.

In a rare glimpse into the weeklong investigation, police released details on Saturday that showed Khuram Butt originally tried to rent a 7.5 tonne truck. The intended truck was smaller but similar to the one used in the Nice attack on Bastille Day last year that killed 86 people and injured hundreds in the resort town in the south of France.

In another development, a 27-year-old male suspect has been arrested on Friday (local time) and taken into custody after a warrant was executed on a home in Ilford, Essex. Five other men, aged 27-30, remain in police custody, with 12 others released without charge in connection with the latest terror attack on London.

Also in the UK two men, aged 24 and 29, from Huddersfield, remain in custody after being arrested in Sheffield and Huddersfield, on suspicion of offences under Section 5 of the Terrorism Act. UK’s North East Counter Terrorism Unit which co-ordinated the arrests on June 1 has been given more to keep the suspects in custody. the apir are not connected to either London or the Manchester terrorism attacks.

In The Netherlands, a 29-year-old man from Amsterdam was arrested at a concert by singer/song writer Guus Meeuwis at the Phillips Stadium, Eindhoven, on Friday (local time). The man, known to authorities for possible terrorist radicalisation, was allegedly acting suspiciously. Security was increased and the man was detained.

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After his payment was declined, Butt and his two accomplices rented a smaller van that they used to plough into crowds before they leapt from the vehicle and went on a stabbing rampage in an attack that left eight people dead and nearly 50 people injured. It was the third such deadly attack in Britain in the three months.

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The eight victims killed in the terrorist attack on London Bridge and in London Borough market, (top, L-R) Alexandre Pigeard of France, Christine Archibald of Canada, Ignacio Echevarria of Spain, Sara Zelenak of Australia, (bottom L-R) James McMullen of Britain, Kirsty Boden of Australia, Xavier Thomas of France, and Sebastien Belanger of France. Picture: AFP / Hand Outs / Sosdesaparecidos / Metropolitan PoliceSource:AFP

After leaving the small white van, the men used 12-inch knives with bright pink blades, according to Dean Haydon, head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter- Terrorism Command.

Police also disclosed that multiple petrol bombs were discovered in the van, and a copy of the Koran opened at a page “describing martyrdom” was found at one of the attackers’ houses.

Investigators believe three victims were killed on the bridge, including one man who was thrown into the Thames River, before the attackers left the vehicle and stabbed five people to death around London’s busy Borough Market, Haydon said.

Police believe Butt was driving the van.

“When I come back to Butt trying getting hold of a 7.5 ton lorry — the effect could have been even worse,” he said.

More than a dozen wine bottles filled with flammable liquid and rags wrapped around them in the shape of molotov cocktails were found in the van. Two blow torches were also found.

Haydon said the men may have been planning even more bloodshed if they had survived their stabbing spree and made it back to the van.

Police also found a number of office chairs, gravel and a suitcase in the van. Detectives believe the gravel may have been placed in the vehicle to make it heavier, or as part of a cover to justify hiring it, while the chairs may have been used to convince family and friends they were moving furniture.

Leader Khuram Shazad Butt, accepted intot the UK as a child refugee from Pakistan,and Moroccan-born Rachid Redouane, who was refused asylum by the UK. Picture: Metropolitan PoliceSource:AFP

Youssef Zaghba, an Italian national of Moroccan dissent, was arrested in Italy on his way to Syria. Picture: Metropolitan Police LondonSource:AFP

Petrol bombs were found by and in the van used by the London Bridge terror attackers, suggesting they intended to inflict further damage. Picture: Metropolitan Police LondonSource:AP

Chairs and bags of gravel were found inside the van. Picture: Metropolitan Police LondonSource:AP

Petrol bombs in wine bottles were left behind by the London Bridge terrorists. Picture: Metropolitan Police LondonSource:AP

Butt, a 27-year-old Pakistan-born British citizen, and his two accomplices, Rachid Redouane, 30, who claimed to be Moroccan-Libyan, and Youssef Zaghba, a 22-year-old Italian national of Moroccan descent, were shot dead by armed police eight minutes after the first emergency call.

The three attackers were wearing fake suicide belts consisting of plastic water bottles wrapped in grey duct tape.

Haydon described the pink knives as “pretty unusual” and appealed for anyone with information about where they came from to contact police.

The pink-coloured blade knives used in the London Bridge attacks. Police do not know where they came from. Picture: Metropolitan Police LondonSource:AP

Police raided Redouane’s small residence on Tuesday and said he had been renting it since April. This was the safe house where the attack was planned, police said. In the residence, police found an English language copy of the Koran opened at a page describing martyrdom, pieces of cloth which appeared to match material wrapped around the petrol bombs and water bottles similar to those used in the fake suicide vests, police said. Luggage straps, plastic retractable craft knives and rolls of duct tape were also found.

Eighteen people have been arrested in connection with last week’s attack. All but five have been released. Searches are continuing.

The question remains how the men met and knew one another but police said Saturday they did not suspect a wider plot.

“It looks as if it is pretty much a contained plot involving the three of them, which is supported by the forensic evidence we’ve got back so far,” Haydon said.

Butt, who police consider the attack ringleader, had been on bail after being arrested for fraud in a case in October of last year, police said. He had also been repeatedly reported to police for violent behaviour and trying to recruit young children to the Islamic State group as well as featuring in the documentary, The Jihadis Next Door, where he was seen next to a group of men unfurling a black-and-white flag scrawled with Arabic script and associated with the Islamic State group.

“There was no evidence uncovered of any attack-planning in relation to him,” Haydon said.

Butt had been warned by police on two occasions — once for fraud in 2008 and once in 2010 for assault. Still, he did not have any criminal convictions. Zaghba and Redouane lacked any criminal convictions or such warnings in Britain. “From what I’m seeing, there is nothing that suggests at the moment that we got that wrong,” Haydon said, referring to Butt.

Originally published as Mystery pink knife used in terror attack