LONDON (AP) - The four victims killed and at least 30 wounded in the attack in Westminster were a cosmopolitan snapshot of one of the world’s most cosmopolitan cities.
The dead were a British policeman stabbed to death, an American tourist celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary, a British school administrator adored in the Spanish town where she spent summer vacations with her family, and a retired window cleaner.
The injured came from 12 countries. In addition to Britons, they included schoolchildren from France, a Romanian couple, a Portuguese man who had just finished his shift at a food store, and others who had traveled from as far away as China to explore London.
Here’s what’s known about the victims:
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Police Officer Keith Palmer, 48, had been a member of Britain’s parliamentary and diplomatic protection forces for 15 years and a soldier in the Royal Artillery before that.
He was on duty protecting Parliament when he was stabbed to death on Wednesday.
Honoring Palmer, Prime Minister Theresa May said he was “a husband, a father … he was every inch a hero.
“His actions will never be forgotten.”
Conservative lawmaker James Cleverly tweeted that he was “heartbroken,” having known Palmer for 25 years. He said they served in the military together.
“A lovely man, a friend,” Cleverly wrote.
The Charlton Athletic Football Club said Palmer was a long-time fan and “a familiar face” at its London stadium, The Valley. As a tribute, the club placed one of its red-and-white scarves on his seat in the East Stand where he sat “for many years.” It said the scarf will stay there until the team’s next game on April 4.
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Aysha Frade, a British citizen whose mother is Spanish, was one of three people killed on the bridge.
In the northwestern Spanish town of Betanzos, where her mother was born and her two sisters run an English-language school, the mayor said: “The whole town is shocked.”
Although Frade, 43, was born and lived in London, she spent weeks every summer in Betanzos visiting relatives, said Ramon Garcia Vazquez, mayor of the town of 13,000 in Spain’s Galicia region.
He told The Associated Press that her family “was very well known in the village and loved by everybody here.”
The Betanzos town hall held a minute of silence for the family at noon Thursday and the mayor announced three days of mourning.
“She was a marvelous girl, very beautiful, with a huge heart and a fantastic family and life in years ahead,” said Eduardo Lage, owner of the Galicia Restaurant in Portobello Road frequented by Frade and her relatives and friends.
“She was like a second daughter to me,” said the restaurant owner. His daughter and Frade grew close, he said, bonding over the ties to Galicia. Over the years, both families shared birthday parties, weddings, births, funerals - and now this.
“I was in bed that afternoon, not feeling well, and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing on TV. Then it was my daughter that told me that Aysha was among the victims,” Lage said. “We fear for her mom, Mari Carmen, who is weak, and this has been a big blow to her.”
Frade had two daughters, Spain’s regional Voz de Galicia newspaper reported.
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Kurt W. Cochran from Utah was on the last day of a European trip celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary when he was killed on Westminster Bridge.
His wife, Melissa, was seriously injured and remains hospitalized. She suffered a broken leg, a broken rib and cuts and bruises, said friend Mike Murphy.
They were visiting her parents, who are serving as Mormon missionaries in the British capital, a church spokesman said.
The couple ran a recording studio in the basement of their home just outside Salt Lake City.
Murphy, owner of Murphy’s Guitars, said Kurt Cochran regularly came to his shop to buy recording equipment for the studio where he tried to help young bands get started by charging them very little.
“He loved music,” Murphy said. “He was always around when there were music things going on.”
Pictures on Kurt Cochran’s Facebook page show the couple enjoying their trip through Europe prior to the attack. In one post, he was smiling and holding a German beer under the caption, “After a long day of sightseeing.”
In a tweet, U.S. President Donald Trump called Cochran “a great American” and said: “My prayers and condolences are with his family and friends.”
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Retired window cleaner Leslie Rhodes died at King’s College Hospital on Thursday night after life support was withdrawn one day after the attack.
The 75-year-old was from south London. His neighbors said he was a “lovely man” who was a devoted music fan.
He apparently suffered many broken bones after being hit by the attacker’s SUV, and went into a coma from which he never recovered.
Neighbor Michael Carney, who knew Rhodes for around 40 years, told Britain’s Press Association he and his family stayed at Rhodes’ hospital bedside until he died.
“He had no one. You can’t have someone dying on their own,” Carney said. “What harm did he ever do to anyone? He was the nicest man you ever met.”
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Francisco Lopes, a 26-year-old from Portugal who has lived in London for 15 years, suffered severe cuts on his hands and legs when he was hit by the car on Westminster Bridge. He had just finished work at a food store and was walking along the bridge to catch the Tube home.
“I was scared for my life,” Lopes told the AP. “I didn’t want to die. I was trying to convince myself that I was going to be OK and that my legs were going to be OK.”
“I had no, literally no, time to get out of the way,” he said. “I tried to defend myself as I could. So I put my arms forward, and the car just tumbled me over.”
Lopes, who will have surgery on one of his hands, says he is struggling to sleep.
“I started to close my eyes and then that image just started coming over again, you know the fear, the people screaming,” he said.
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Romania’s ambassador to Britain, Dan Mihalache, said a critically injured Romanian woman successfully underwent surgery Thursday to remove a blood clot from her brain, but she also has lung injuries.
The woman was rescued from the Thames River - it was not clear whether she jumped in to escape the car or was thrown into the water by its impact.
Romanian authorities did not identify her or the man she was traveling with, citing privacy rules. Romanian media reported that the couple in their 20s had traveled to London to celebrate his birthday later this week.
The ambassador told the national news agency Agerpres the man suffered a foot fracture.
“He’s in psychological shock because of the situation,” he said.
___Parra reported from Madrid. Danica Kirka, Gregory Katz and Sophie Berman in London and Hallie Golden and Sally Ho in West Bountiful, Utah contributed.
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