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'She died trying to help people': Victims' families pay tribute to loved ones

Seven people died in the London terror attack on Saturday night.

Updated 2.45pm

SEVEN PEOPLE WERE killed in Saturday’s terror assault in central London and 48 others taken to hospital.

The dead include an Australian woman, a Canadian woman and a French man, while the injured came from a variety of countries including Bulgaria, Germany and New Zealand.

Here is what we know about the victims so far.

Australian nurse

Australian nurse Kirsty Boden, 28, was killed as she ran to try to help the wounded on London Bridge, her family said in a statement.

She worked in post-operative care at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital, right next to the bridge and Borough Market.

unnamed Kirsty Boden Met Police Met Police

A statement released by her family through the Metropolitan Police said: “Kirsty was loved and adored by her family, friends and boyfriend. She was the most outgoing, kind and generous person who loved to help people. Helping people was what she loved to do in her job as a nurse and in her daily life.

As she ran towards danger, in an effort to help people on the bridge, Kirsty sadly lost her life. We are so proud of Kirsty’s brave actions which demonstrate how selfless, caring and heroic she was, not only on that night, but throughout all of her life. Kirsty – we love you and we will miss you dearly.

“We will not be making any further comments on this tragedy and ask everyone, especially the media, to give us the privacy we need to grieve away from the public eye.”

Guy’s chief nurse Eileen Sills said Boden was an “outstanding nurse” who “always went the extra mile” for her patients. Her colleagues called her “one in a million”.

Canadian killed on bridge 

Christine Archibald, a 30-year-old Canadian, died in her fiance Tyler Ferguson’s arms after the attackers’ van mowed her down on London Bridge.

“My baby brother lost the love of his life,” Cassie Ferguson Rowe wrote on Facebook.

“In a split second his entire life was ripped away from him.”

download Christine Archibald

Archibald was a charity worker. Her family said in a statement: “She had room in her heart for everyone and believed strongly that every person was to be valued and respected.

She lived this belief, working in a shelter for the homeless until she moved to Europe to be with her fiance.

“She would have had no understanding of the callous cruelty that caused her death.”

Stopped for a smoke 

Another victim is believed to be James McMullan.

The 32-year-old from Hackney, east London, was identified by a bank card found on his body, according to his sister.

He had been drinking with friends and had stepped out for a smoke from The Barrowboy & Banker, a pub near where the attackers crashed their van before launching a stabbing spree.

“While our pain will never diminish, it is important for us all to carry on with our lives in direct opposition to those who wish to destroy us and remember that hatred is the refuge of small-minded individuals,” Melissa McMullan told Sky News.

“He was an inspiration,” she added.

French bistro worker 

A Frenchman was also killed in the attack, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said. The man has not yet been formally identified by officials or his family, but relatives named him as Alexandre.

He had family links in the Brittany port town of Saint-Malo on the northwest French coast but was not from there himself, local mayor Claude Renoult told AFP.

Local newspapers said the man lived in London and worked in Boro Bistro, a Breton-run restaurant in Borough Market.

A tribute note signed from the “Boro Bistro family”, left at the scene of the attack, said in French: “Alex, I hope that the place where you are now will be even more beautiful and peaceful than the desert of Jordan. With all my love. Rest in peace.”

‘Heroic’ policeman among wounded 

An off-duty, unarmed London policeman who was having a post-work drink rushed to help. He is now in hospital in a serious condition, police chief Cressida Dick said, adding that he had been “utterly heroic”.

A British Transport Police officer, one of the first on the scene, was also stabbed in the face, head and leg and taken to hospital, but his injuries are not thought to be life-threatening. A further two officers were wounded.

Geoff Ho, business editor at the Sunday Express newspaper, was outside the Southwark Tavern pub. He tried to help a bouncer who was being attacked but was stabbed in the throat himself.

The martial artist was filmed being led away by a policeman, clutching his neck.

Oliver Dowling, 32, from Christchurch in New Zealand, is in a coma after being stabbed in the face, neck and stomach. His girlfriend was also injured, reports said.

Two Australians were stabbed in the neck. Candice Hedge is recovering in hospital, while Andrew Morrison received stitches and was discharged.

A Greek man, who left his country in 2011 because of the economic crisis to seek a new life in London, was also among the injured.

Ignacio Echeverria, a 39-year-old Spaniard and HSBC expert in the fight against money-laundering, was still missing, last seen trying to defend a woman from one of the attackers with his skateboard.

He was returning from a skate park across London Bridge and came upon the site of the rampage, Spanish media reported. He was last seen lying on the ground and has not been heard from since.

On a visit to London Monday, Le Drian said two French citizens had been missing since Saturday’s rampage and another eight were wounded.

The foreign ministry in Berlin said Germans were also among the injured, one of them seriously.

© AFP 2017 with reporting by Órla Ryan

Read: Tributes paid to those injured and killed in London terrorist attack

Read: ‘Evil extremists will not win’: Minute’s silence to be held for London victims

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