Analysis | For love of London: three terror attacks and a fire put Britain’s capital to the test
Britain has endured a tumultuous period in recent months including terror attacks, a catastrophic fire and a dramatic election that left Prime Minister Theresa May’s government badly weakened
At 11am Monday, firefighters and police gathered under the burnt-out shell of Grenfell Tower to pay their respects to the victims of last week’s devastating inferno.
The minute’s silence was replicated at hundreds of schools, offices and government buildings across the British capital, as Londoners united in sadness and support for survivors and relatives.
Yet even as the city mourned those lost five days earlier in the catastrophic blaze, a fresh disaster was unfolding across town.
It was another terrorist attack, but with a new twist. Rather than an assault on innocent civilians of diverse backgrounds mounted by one or more Islamic extremists, with international terror group Islamic State claiming responsibility, this attack had been perpetrated on a group of Muslim residents peacefully returning from prayers during the holy month of Ramadan.
Echoing recent terror attacks at London Bridge, Westminster, Berlin and Nice, the terrorist had driven a van into a group of innocent people at about 12.20am in Finsbury Park, North London.
The group were helping an elderly man who had fallen ill while returning from the Finsbury Park Mosque, when the van ploughed into them, injuring 10. The elderly man subsequently died, but police could not say whether his death was due to the attack or to illness.
