Unarmed policeman killed in parliament knife attack is named

The unarmed police officer who was killed as he tried to stop the terror attack on Westminster was named on Wednesday night as Keith Palmer.

Palmer, 48, was a constable, a husband and father. He was a member of the Metropolitan police’s parliamentary and diplomatic protection command.

Acting deputy commissioner Mark Rowley said Palmer had 15 years’ service in the Met. “He was someone who left for work today expecting to return home at the end of his shift and he had every right to expect that would happen,” said Rowley.

Palmer was fatally stabbed by the assailant as he tried to prevent him entering Westminster. The Conservative MP James Cleverly paid tribute on Wednesday night to the fallen policeman, a former army colleague, tweeting:

Palmer was one of four people killed by the attacker, who was shot dead by one of his armed colleagues.

The number of dead and injured rose on Wednesday evening as the scale of the terror attack became clear. Rowley said 40 people had suffered injuries, some serious, and the death toll had risen from four to five – including the attacker.

The 40 injured included three police officers on the way back from a commendation ceremony, a group of French schoolchildren , a group of British university students and a Romanian couple.

Most if not all were struck down as the attacker rampaged in a 4x4 car on to the pavement on Westminster Bridge as he drove at speed towards Parliament Square.

Police said the injured people included a range of nationalities and the Met was liaising with foreign embassies. Two teenage French students were on Wednesday night in a critical condition in hospital after being struck on the bridge. A third student was also being treated in hospital for injuries. One of the three had been thrown on to the bonnet of a car.

The French president, François Hollande, said the parents of the three injured students were being flown to London on Wednesday evening.

Four British students, from Edge Hill University in Lancashire, were also hurt but their injuries were not thought to be serious.

Most of the victims were hurt as the assailant rampaged in a Hyundai 4x4 vehicle across the bridge towards parliament, mowing down several people in his path. One eyewitness said he saw 10 bodies lying on the bridge.

One of the four victims killed was a woman who was reported to have been run down by a bus.

The injured were on Wednesday night being treated at a number of hospitals in the capital, including St Thomas’ and King’s College London.

Colleen Anderson, a junior doctor from St Thomas’ hospital, said: “I confirmed one fatality. A woman. She was under the wheel of a bus. She died, confirmed her death at the scene.”

Anderson said the victims on the bridge ranged from those with minor injuries, some of whom could walk, to others with “catastrophic” and “life-changing” injuries. The doctor also said she had treated a policeman brought to St Thomas’ with head injuries but he had been transferred to King’s College hospital.

It is not known how badly the three police officers were injured, but one is thought to be the officer who suffered head injuries.

At least one woman was thrown or jumped into the Thames from the bridge as the assailant drove at speed along the road.

A spokesman for the Port of London Authority, which deals with everything concerning the Thames, said late on Wednesday: “A female member of the public was recovered alive from the water, but with serious injuries. She has been brought ashore and is undergoing urgent medical treatment.”

Another of the injured appeared to have been pushed down the concrete steps on the south-west side of the bridge, possibly by the 4x4.

Other victims were seen lying in the roadway on the bridge. One man was seen being helped by two or three people. Another clutched his leg, half sitting up in the middle of the road.

The three injured French students were part of a group of teenagers visiting London from the Saint-Joseph de Concarneau lycée (secondary school) in Brittany and were halfway through a week-long visit to London. There were four classes on the trip – about 96 pupils, all aged 15 and 16. About a dozen pupils were believed to have been walking on the bridge when the speeding car ploughed towards them.

The injured teenagers were taken to hospital where doctors were reported to be trying to save the life of one of them late on Wednesday. The condition of a second teenager was said to be “critical”. There was no information on the third student’s injuries.

The local French newspaper Le Télégramme reported that one student ended up on the car bonnet, according to other pupils. They had arrived in London on Sunday evening. The newspaper said the headteacher, Xavier Rebillard, had spoken to parents who had gathered at the school to wait for news.

The four British university students who were injured on the bridge were among a group of 13 undergraduates and a lecturer from Edge Hill University in Ormskirk, Lancashire. They were on the first day of a two-day educational visit to parliament. They had just left parliament, where they had watched prime minister’s questions and met MPs.

Among those injured were Owen Lambert, 18, from Morecambe, Lancashire, who needed stitches to a head wound, and Travis Frain from Darwen. A tweet from a local journalist said Frain had suffered a cracked rib plus hand and arm injuries. Frain had contacted his family and his mother, Angela Frain, said he was in hospital but in good spirits.

She said: “I have spoken to him at 3.20pm and I know he’s OK. He’s at the hospital with a police officer. The police officer just said he was in good spirits and he is waiting to be x-rayed.”

Dr John Cater, vice-chancellor of Edge Hill University, told BBC North West Tonight on Wednesday: “They had just actually finished their session, were leaving the parliament building and in the Westminster Bridge area where we understand … they were involved in the incident.

“We understand that two students have been taken to hospital but as walking wounded – one with a head wound and one with a wrist injury. There are two other students who have minor injuries who are with police and acting as witnesses.

“The good news is that the other nine students are now back in a hostel receiving support and will return to the north-west tomorrow.”

He added: “The details are invariably hazy, I guess. Our assumption is that they were either knocked over by other people or struck by the vehicle. Obviously all of them will be somewhat traumatised by what they have seen as well.”

Earlier, the university tweeted: “All students and lecturer in Westminster have been accounted for and are being supported by the university.

Outside St Thomas’ hospital on Wednesday night, friends and family were waiting to hear news of the injured. Patrick Tracey, from Derby, said his Romanian friends Andrei and Andrea had been caught up in the terror assault. Tracey said Andrei was being treated for a wounded leg and Andrea was also in hospital. The extent of their injuries was not known.

Romania’s foreign ministry confirmed late on Wednesday that two of the injured were Romanian nationals.

A 30-second clip posted on Twitter by Polish politician Radosław Sikorski (@sikorskiradek) showed some of the injured on Westminster Bridge. A man was seen lying in the bus lane, with several people running towards him. Another man was seen in the middle of the road holding his left leg while two people knelt over him.

The number of injured rose steadily through Wednesday evening. London ambulance service at first reported there were 10 injured on Westminster Bridge, but later in the evening reported the number was double that figure.