Husband and wife Ben and Natalie said they were outside Borough Market when they saw people running away. Ben told the BBC: “I saw a man in red with a large blade, at a guess 10in long, stabbing a man, about three times . . . He was being stabbed quite coldly and he slumped to the ground.”
Another witness told the BBC one attacker ran at people with a knife, shouting: “This is for Allah”.
Some of the knifemen ran shouting into the El Pastor taco restaurant in Borough Market and stabbed a woman. Witnesses said diners threw chairs and other objects at the attackers and drove them out.
Ten or so minutes later police arrived and led the 50 to 60 people out of the restaurant, with their hands above their heads. They broke into a run as soon as they reached the cordon.
The Met police confirmed its armed officers had shot and killed three men in Borough Market. It said the suspects were confronted and shot within eight minutes of the first emergency call.
Assistant commissioner Mark Rowley added: “The suspects were wearing what looked like explosive vests but these were later established to be hoaxes.”
Asked if the incident was “over”, Rowley said: “Our current belief is that there were three attackers but we have still got some work to do to be 100% confident of that.”
