The news of a fatal terror attack in London hasn’t deterred people in from packing their bags and getting ready to travel to England.
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Five people, including a police officer, have died after a man began driving his car through pedestrians on the Westminster Bridge in the centre of London.
The attacker left the car and began wielding a knife, stabbing an unarmed police officer, he was later shot to death by plain-clothes police.
London’s Metropolitan Police confirmed 40 people have been injured in the attack.
Orange’s Ethan Kelly is heading to England to play rugby union and said he wasn’t worried by the threat of terror attacks in London.
“It does come up in your mind, but it’s not about stopping your plans,” he said.
Mr Kelly will be playing football in Doncaster, a few hours north of London.
He flies out next week to England next week.
Mr Kelly isn’t the only one who has decided to press on with their plans to travel to England.
Orange Travel’s consultant Gai Fardell said people were still booking holidays and traveling to London.
“I had a person come in today, who’s travelling to London in three weeks,” Mrs Fardell said.
“I asked her what she thinks, and she said ‘it could happen anywhere’.
“She said ‘if you give in to terrorism, they’ve won’.”
Mrs Fardell said advice from the government about travelling to London had been updated to reflect the emergency situation, but its overall travel advice had not changed.
She said London’s police had a good reputation and had experience dealing with terror attacks.
When it came to changing people’s decisions to travel, she said it often depended on the media coverage and how the attacks were dealt with by local authorities.
“I thought last year after the attacks in Paris would have deterred people travelling there, but (France) was still the most popular country in 2016 to travel to,” Mrs Fardell said.
However, she said people had been deterred from traveling following the Bali bombings.
As well as traditional communication channels, Facebook has created a safety check-in page.
People can tag themselves as being safe, if they’re in London by visiting this page: facebook.com/safetycheck/westminster-attack-mar22-2017.
Declan Rurenga
Declan Rurenga was the editor of Griffith's Area News and Leeton's Irrigator until September 2023. Before landing at the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, he reported news in Junee, Wagga Wagga, Orange and Cootamundra.
Declan Rurenga was the editor of Griffith's Area News and Leeton's Irrigator until September 2023. Before landing at the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, he reported news in Junee, Wagga Wagga, Orange and Cootamundra.
