London Bridge terrorist ‘slashed woman across arms and stomach’ with second victim ‘in induced coma’

THE London Bridge terrorist slashed a woman's arm and stomach and put another man in an induced coma, a patient at the hospital said today.

Armed police are said to be guarding the ward where the victims are at the Royal London Hospital in East London.

Usman Khan, 28, from Staffordshire, stabbed a man and woman to death and injured three others while wearing a fake suicide jacket.

Jack Merritt, 25, has been named as one of the victims after his father shared the heartbreaking news that his son was killed yesterday.

Grieving dad David paid tribute saying his son was a "beautiful spirit" and had been a "champion" for those who had "dealt a losing hand by life, who ended up in the prison system".

Khan was shot dead by armed police after heroic Londoners tackled him to the pavement.

Three people, one man and two women, were rushed to hospital last night -one was in critical condition, one was stable and a third had less serious injuries.

NHS Chief Executive Simon Stevens said this afternoon that the one patient who was in critical condition has improved and the condition of the other two was the same.

It comes after a woman, who did not give her name,said a woman in her 20s had "slash wounds on her arms and stomach" and a man had to be put in an induced coma.

She said she didn't know about the third victim, a woman, who was also rushed the intensive care unit yesterday.

She said: "They are definitely here, there are three of them.

";There is a man in intensive care, they had to put him in an induced coma.

"Then there is a woman, in her twenties, with slash wounds on her arms and stomach. It's just awful.

"There are armed police all around the ward. I know because I've seen it and I've been at this hospital for a long time.

"I don't know anything about the third person or who the victims are but I think they are generally in the intensive care and high dependency units."

She added that she had not seen any relatives and that the hospital was put on lockdown at about 5pm yesterday.

Police were seen carrying out a raid on an address linked to Khan this morning.

Met Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said in the early hours of this morning: "Tragically, two people - a man and a woman - were killed during the attack.

"Three others - a man and two women - were also injured and remain in hospital."

Khan was freed from prison last December and police said he was "known to authorities" after he was convicted in 2012 for terror offences.

Khan was jailed as part of a nine-man terror group who plotted to bomb the London Stock Exchange and build a terrorist training camp.

He was sentenced in 2012 to indeterminate detention for "public protection" with a minimum jail term of eight years, which would have allowed him to be kept behind bars longer.

However, in 2013 the Court of Appeal quashed the sentence and replaced it with a 16-year-fixed term, of which Khan should serve half in prison.

He was living in Stafford and had been fitted with an electronic tag to follow his movements since he was released.

The Parole Board said in a statement this morning they had "no involvement" in Khan's release.