Keith Palmer gave his life for others

There were other innocent victims

Our sympathy goes out to the family and friends of PC Keith Palmer who yesterday was the first point of defence against a terrorist attack on Westminster, and bravely rose to the challenge.

One of the other victims has been identified in the press as a young woman who was born in Spain but saw her future as a wife and mother in England. Another has yet to be named. The fourth fatality was of course the attacker.

Our thoughts must be with all concerned. I also felt for the visiting Breton children caught up in the attack, and their parents. The Guardian had the details:

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.

We must wait for the report of the official investigation into yesterday's tragedy, of course, but surely the immediate calls from all sides not to overreact are correct.