LONDON- A man who used a narwhal tusk to fight a knifeman on a fatal rampage in London last month has spoken of how he and others carried on grappling with the attacker even after seeing that he was wearing what looked like an explosive suicide vest.
Darryn Frost, who appeared in video footage of the fight between the attacker and members of the public on London Bridge on Nov. 29, told the PA newswire that he was attending an event in a building nearby when he heard a disturbance downstairs.
The 38-year-old said he grabbed the narwhal tusk that was mounted on a wall while another man used a wooden chair to fend off the attacker, Usman Khan, a convicted terrorist who had been released early from prison.
“He had knives in both hands and, upon seeing me with the narwhal tusk, pointed at his midriff,” said Frost, a government worker who moved to Britain from South Africa 14 years go.
“He turned and spoke to me, then indicated he had an explosive device around his waist. At this point, the man next to me threw his chair at the attacker, who then started running towards him with knives raised above his head.”
Frost told PA he passed the tusk to the man who had thrown the chair and ran upstairs to get another one. On his return, he saw the first tusk shattered on the floor and people fleeing.
“Along with others, I pursued the attacker, tusk in hand, on to the bridge,” he said.
“We called out to warn the public of the danger and, after a struggle, managed to restrain him to the ground. At that point I was trying to isolate the blades by holding his wrists so that he could not hurt anyone or set off the device.”
Police shot Khan dead moments later. The vest was found to have been a fake.
Two people died from stab wounds, namely Jack Merritt, 25, and Saskia Jones, 23, both former students active in a programme on prisoner rehabilitation.
Frost said he had launched a project, Extinguish Hate, and he asked people to donate to the victims’ fundraising pages: saskia-jones.muchloved.com and the “Celebration of the life of Jack Merritt” on GoFundMe.com.
(Content and photos syndicated via Reuters)
