Stephen Drill: London terror attack reminds us we can no longer be complacent
As I stood and watched scenes of chaos unfold on London Bridge, a sense of familiarity crept over and reminded me that we’ve seen this tragedy before, writes UK correspondent Stephen Drill.
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Terror returned to London, just a few hundred metres from my office yesterday.
The sound of the police helicopters buzzing hovered above the shocking drama unfolding on London Bridge below.
After hearing the building was locked down, I went out to the balcony near the canteen on level 14 and looked at the flashing lights of police vehicles on the bridge.
Then I watched as people ran from the Borough Market, just near the bridge.
The scenes were scarily familiar.
It was here in 2017 when three terrorists rammed a hired car into pedestrians on London Bridge and then went on a stabbing spree killing two Australians, au pair Sara Zelenak, 21, and nurse Kirsty Boden, 28.
Eight people were killed in that attack.
Yesterday, police were everywhere.
Some were heavily armed special operations unit police, while many uniformed officers were directing people away from the scene.
Dog squad officers were also there checking to see if the terrorist, who was shot dead by police, had hidden any bombs.
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Hundreds were evacuated, with some walking at pace, while others ran in fright.
My office, which was about 300 metres inside the police cordon was put in lockdown.
Looking from the balcony I could see special operations police head closer to where the terrorist was shot dead by police.
One carried a shield as they checked to see if there were any other threats.
About an hour after the terrorist was shot twice, people in a building closer to the bridge were let out.
They filed out one by one before the sun went down.
The UK had downgraded its terror threat in recent weeks, but following the death of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi there was always a chance of reprisal attacks.
The footage that emerged from people on buses and pedestrians on bridges showed that Londoners were prepared for the attack this time, following the horror of 2017 and the attack on cyclists at Westminster in 2018.
At least three people jumped on the attack to disarm him, putting their lives at risk.
The police response was swift but the latest attack was the reminder that more still needs to be done to combat terrorism.
When we were allowed to leave the building after about five hours, the streets nearby were almost deserted.
A waitress having a cigarette outside the nearby Shard building was distressed, a pregnant French woman, who was out with her child and friend said she was very worried.
But there were also people making a silence protest, walking through the streets with signs saying “love will win” not terrorism.