FOLLOW THE NEWS IF YOU ARE IN LONDON OR HEADING TO LONDON
 

More than one part of London is being blocked off due to police activity & danger on the streets. Follow live updates on BBC

http://www.bbc.com/news/live/uk-40147014

12.25 am - it's being reported that more than one person died on London Bridge after a van ploughed into people on the bridge and then three men leapt out and attacked passers by with swords or knives, and at the same time, there was something at Borough Market [possibly gunfire] and also another incident at Vauxhall which now seems to be over.

It is said that 3 men are being sought though they seem to have arrested at least one person.

The picture is by no means clear but they look like co-ordinated attacks.

It is because of information like this that it is a wise idea to follow the news if you have immediate travel plans for London. And if you are in London now, follow the news for your safety

"Guardian journalist Kate Lyons has more on the evacuations going on in the area around London Bridge. Guests at hotels in the vicinity of the attack have been evacuated. Zaven Jordan who is visiting from Australia was staying in Novotel Southwark and was woken by a fire alarm. When guests assembled outside the hotel he said police told everyone to run.

“The police didn’t just give directions, they were yelling ‘run!’,” he said. “When a fire alarm goes off you expect to assemble and then go back inside in a few minutes. We grabbed our passports just in case, but we weren’t really ready for this.”

He is walking the streets trying to find somewhere to stay. He says the hotel is not answering their phone, he had been turned away by another hotel and he is uncertain where in the city it is safe to go."

So disturbing. Be safe.

These terrorists are so despicable.

Hope those hotel guests found safety!

One area has had a terrorist attack: London Bridge and Borough Market are practically the sane place. The Vauxhall stabbing appears to be some kind of Saturday night brawl.

That seems strange, being told to just run. To where? Which direction? Evacuated, but not to a safe place? Without belongings? I hope these people have found shelter and a place of safety by now.

I wish there are no more victims. Terrible news.

Very sadly the total loss of life just went up to 7 [excluding the perpetrators] and 48 still in hospital. The police were there and had shot them [the perpetrators] within 8 minutes of the shout going up but of course it was several hours before they could be sure that the incident was over.

I find it hard to get my head round the idea of 3 chaps sitting down and planning to spend their Saturday night running people down with a van and then stabbing other people. How do they develop a mind-set that allows that to become a reality? I know how many ordinary criminals think as I've represented some of them; they generally suffer from a lack of empathy, and fail to understand that their victims have the same feelings that they have. Their outrage when something bad happens to them can be almost comical.

It is that simple with these people too? or is there something else going on?

In the aftermath of terroirst attacks it is not uncommon for police activity related to the threat to occur in many other parts of the city -- and this continues to occur in London, with areas of Barking now blocked off. Equally important is that rumors fly, confusion reigns, and some of the better news outlets, like the BBC or the Guardian, can be very helpful if you are actually in the city or on your way there.

As for why this attack occurred, this BBC report is relevant:

The BBC's security correspondent says supporters of so-called Islamic State have been "celebrating the London attack, even before any claim has been made by IS".

There was never much doubt either in their minds, or in those of British counter-terrorism officials, that this was a jihadist attack inspired by IS. It follows a widely-circulated propaganda message put out by the group on social media urging its followers to attack civilians in the West using trucks, knives or guns. The message makes reference to the current Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Last year attacks intensified during this month with deaths resulting in Istanbul, Dhaka and Baghdad. Some analysts see this as a last desperate bid by IS to its supporters following multiple setbacks in the Middle East where its self-proclaimed caliphate is shrinking fast. However, the ideology of IS is likely to survive those defeats and will continue to fuel terrorist attacks around the world.

>>It is that simple with these people too? or is there something else going on?<<

Dressing up much the same psychological impulses in some half-baked ideology, be it perverted religion or political extremism, that gives them some grand global "explanation" for their dissatisfactions and resentments turns it into A Cause.

Attacking those in pubs and bars, during the Ramadan, is for them a sure way of murdering as many infidels (non-Muslims) as possible without having to discriminate. Of course there could have been Muslims walking on the London Bridge, but they may have assumed no observant Muslims are likely to be in the vicinity of entertainment district where alcohol is served during the Holy Month.

I will be in London on business this week but I'm not changing my plans. I won't let terrorists dictate what I do with my life. I lived through IRA outrages in London in 70s and 80s and they didn't change my way of life and neither will the Islamist extremists. United we stand, divided we fall.

Good for you Alec.

I can't help feeling relieved that it was last weekend that DS was in London, not this. Illogical I know, but there it is.

That's exactly right, Alec.

Disgusted and heavy-hearted that these wastes-of-life hurt and killed (again) in that great city, but those London Metropolitan Police, though! Stopping those men in under 10 minutes and saving lives.

That Mr. Rogers quote that has been popping up all over social media is so simple, yet helpful: When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping."

So easy to overlook the worthiness and good in people in light of the acts of a misguided few.

yes, we are very lucky in our emergency services, ChgoGal. Also many members of the public did their bit, as they did in Manchester. These incidents must be so frightening - your instinct is to run, but what if you are running into something worse, but the police etc. don't have time to think about that, they just have to act.

Did you know that when a UK police officer shoots someone, they are immediately suspended from duty until there has been an investigation? In this case it sounds as if they had no choice but it is always taken very seriously.

I am scheduled to travel to London (also France and Spain) next week and must admit some anxiety and hesitation. I appreciate that the chances of running into a terrorism incident are slim, but I don't want to go on a pleasure trip having to be anxious and needing to be looking over my shoulder. Any thoughts?

Probably better to use the live updates on BBC than here on Fodor's:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-40147014

"Did you know that when a UK police officer shoots someone, they are immediately suspended from duty until there has been an investigation?"

That happens here in the US too, annhig.

that's interesting to know Barbara, thank you.

As I said before, two members of my family personally knew two of the victims in the Manchester atrocity, so I share in the families' grief and sense of devastation. The pictures of the body of 14-year old Eilidh McLeod being flown back to the Scottish island of Barra, 400 miles away from Manchester, for her funeral Mass tomorrow left me with a lump in my throat. May she rest in peace.