An engaged couple have been captured on CCTV enjoying a stroll along London Bridge just seconds before the bride-to-be was killed by a terrorists’ van.
Social worker Christine Archibald, 30, told fiance Tyler Ferguson she loved him and gave him a ‘passionate’ kiss not realising that at the same moment a rented Renault Master ‘hurtled’ towards them.
Ms Archibald and her fiance were walking across the bridge after they had been for dinner at a Thai restaurant during a weekend visit to the capital on June 3, 2017.
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Social worker Christine Archibald, 30, told fiance Tyler Ferguson she loved him and gave him a ‘passionate’ kiss not realising that at the same moment a rented Renault Master ‘hurtled’ towards them
The inquest heard how they switched sides moments before the attackers’ began targeting groups of pedestrians in their rented van
Mr Ferguson told of his last night with his fiancee in a statement read at the Old Bailey today.
‘Chrissy stopped out of nowhere, grabbed me close to give me a passionate kiss after telling me how much she loved me.’
The inquest heard how they switched sides moments before the attackers’ began targeting groups of pedestrians in their rented van.
Mr Ferguson said he saw a man screaming as he ran down the road and heard the screeching of tyres as the vehicle approached from behind.
‘I then noticed a really large white Transit van on the pavement hurtling towards us,’ he said.
‘It was immediately clear this was an act of violence and not an accident.’
Mr Ferguson told of his last night with his fiancee in a statement read at the Old Bailey today. He said: ‘Chrissy stopped out of nowhere, grabbed me close to give me a passionate kiss after telling me how much she loved me’
Mr Tyler said he heard a ‘loud thud’, adding: ‘I then looked for Chrissy. She was no longer next to me.
I realised she had been hit by the van.’
She had been killed ‘almost instantaneously’, according to a pathologist.
CCTV footage played in court, which was described by counsel to the inquest Jonathan Hough QC as ‘graphic and distressing’, showed Ms Archibald being struck by the van on the third time it had mounted the 10cm curb.
Mr Ferguson was seen to run after the van and crouch down over her body, which had been carried down the road under the chassis.
He said: ‘She was lying on her back, her dress had been ripped off by the van, so she was naked at this stage.
CCTV footage played in court, which was described by counsel to the inquest Jonathan Hough QC as ‘graphic and distressing’, showed Ms Archibald being struck by the van on the third time it had mounted the 10cm curb
‘I remember looking down at her mangled body as she convulsed and released the physical life from her body.’
Mr Ferguson said he had to ‘scoop out fragments of teeth’ to clear his fiance’s airway before performing CPR – but saw blood come from her mouth as he tried to breathe into it.
‘I knew in this moment she was dead,’ he said.
‘Four people helped drag Chrissie’s body to the north side of the bridge to try and help her, but it was clear to me by this time our efforts were futile.’
Mr Ferguson said he and other bystanders continued to try to save Ms Archibald’s life for over an hour before he noticed his surroundings.
‘It was chaos and mayhem. It was a warzone,’ he added.
‘No words can express how I felt when this happened. I was absolutely devastated and inconsolable.’
The inquest heard Mr Ferguson realised his fiancee’s engagement ring came off during the impact and Mr Ferguson said he ran back down the bridge to find it, but realised it would be an ‘almost impossible task’.
But the ring was later recovered and he now wears it on a chain around his neck.
The couple, who were living together in The Hague, Netherlands, had been organising their wedding and were planning to get married in autumn 2018 in their native Canada.
Mr Ferguson said: ‘During an intense conversation, she told me that I needed to tell my dad how much I loved him even if he didn’t make an effort – she told me that he could get hit by a bus tomorrow and I may never have the chance again.
‘I remember how lucky I was to have someone so perfect as Chrissy – more than anything I miss how intently she would listen to everything I had to say, she gave the best advice in every situation and I could feel her genuine care and love.’
Gareth Patterson QC, for the Archibald family, said: ‘It’s clear she showed no movements whatsoever entirely consistent with the pathologist’s finding and the suggestion, for Chrissy death must have been pretty much instantaneous.’
Bus driver Mr Sobanski was nearing the end of his shift when he heard a woman screaming.
He broke down in court when he was asked to describe Ms Archibald’s condition, telling the court there was a lot of blood around her mouth as people were trying to save her.
Mr Sobanski said: ‘I was shocked there were no barriers on London Bridge. I thought this was weird, no barriers. I always felt that maybe a vehicle could be used to kill 100, 200, people.
‘I always felt London Bridge was vulnerable to an attack. When it happened I could not believe it happened to me.’
The couple, who were living together in The Hague, Netherlands, had been organising their wedding and were planning to get married in autumn 2018 in their native Canada
Ms Archibald was one of eight people killed in the attack.
The others were Xavier Thomas, 45, Alexandre Pigeard, 26, Sara Zelenak, 21, Kirsty Boden, 28, Sebastien Belanger, 36, James McMullan, 32, and Ignacio Echeverria, 39.
The attackers, who wore fake explosive belts, were shot dead by police.
PC Andrew Duggan was on duty with the Met’s support and armed response unit when the call to go to London Bridge came through.
‘In the manner it was said, it said: “just get there”,’ he told the inquiry.
The inquest was shown transcripts of Mr Duggan’s conversation with the control room.
‘We are going to turn and assist on the bridge,’ he said on the night.
‘It sounds like all hell is breaking loose.’
He told the inquiry that there was ‘virtually no traffic on the north bound carriageway whatsoever.’
‘It did not look as if it normally should.’
‘My colleague grabbed a medical pack and I grabbed a defibrillator and we started triaging who ever we came across.’
‘You had pockets of people supporting others. You quickly realised there might be walking wounded.’
The inquest continues.