DUBAI: Police searching in London for missing French national, Xavier Thomas, have confirmed they have recovered a body on Tuesday from the River Thames, bringing the death toll from Saturday’s attack to eight.
The body is yet to be formally identified, but police said Mr. Thomas’s next of kin have been told.
It is thought the 45-year-old fell into the river after being hit by the van driven by the terrorists in Saturday’s deadly attack. Daesh later claimed responsibility for the attack.
The body was found about two kilometers downstream from London Bridge, where the attacks began.
French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed Wednesday that a third citizen had died in last weekend’s attack.
“We received confirmation of the new toll this morning. There are three deaths and eight injuries on the French side,” Macron said, deploring the “heavy toll these attacks have taken on us.”
Macron also did not confirm the identity of the third French victim.
Thomas and his girlfriend were visiting London at the time. They were walking over London Bridge when the three assailants in a van mowed down pedestrians on the bridge and then launched a stabbing spree in and around bars in nearby Borough Market.
His girlfriend was hit by the vehicle and suffered serious injuries.
Macron praised the British for their sang-froid in the face of the attacks and emphasised France’s “desire to win this war against terrorism together.”
“The British people are courageous, stand tall and do not give up. And we are the same,” he said.
(With AFP)
