A Calgary woman, who was in London when the attacks took place on Wednesday, is speaking out about what she saw during the disturbing incident.
Cristina Almeida was with her two sons near the Westminster Bridge when the attacks took place.
She says that less than an hour before the attack, they were all having tea and were going to see the London Eye.
That meant she would have had to cross the bridge where an attacker drove an SUV into dozens of people.
Almeida says she heard sirens in the distance, but it wasn’t until she saw a news broadcast that she realized what had happened.
Two people were killed and more than 30 were injured when a man driving an SUV plowed into a group of pedestrians on London’s famous Westminster Bridge.
After crashing his vehicle, the man, armed with a knife, fatally stabbed police officer Keith Palmer before he was shot dead by other officers.
Parliament was locked down after the attack that officials believe was perpetrated by a man who was known to British security.
Meanwhile, Almeida says that everything has changed in London following the attacks, especially in regards to security.
“I think right now, everything is safer than before,” she told CTV Calgary via a Skype interview. “You have police everywhere. Police [are] walking down the street where we actually took the train back to the hotel. People are fine; you have police everywhere at each station, [on] every corner of the city so I think it’s pretty safe.”
She says she has already let her family back home know that they are safe.
Now, they plan to enjoy the rest of their trip in London before returning home at the end of the week.
A vigil is being planned for Friday at 6:00 p.m. outside the British Consulate on 150 6 Avenue S.W. in Calgary.
(With files from the Associated Press)
