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LONDON BRIDGE ATTACK

Video: Spanish man blocks London terrorist from entering his bar

Footage shows Galician caught between two doors and scuffling with assailant at Borough Market bar

Video: Sergio Fariña stops the London Bridge terrorists from entering his bar.Photo: atlas | Video: ATLAS

A Spaniard who runs a bar in London’s Borough Market has become one of the heroes of Saturday’s terrorist attack after a video emerged showing him letting people into the premises, shutting the doors, and briefly holding back one of the approaching attackers.

Sergio Fariña, who is originally from the northwestern Spanish region of Galicia, has been living in London for the last 16 years according to Diario de Pontevedra, the regional daily that released the video footage.

The images show Fariña stepping outside his bar, Arthur Hooper’s, to see what is going on. He then decides to bring the sidewalk tables inside and shut the glass doors before the attackers approach. Several people can then be seen coming inside the premises, seeking refuge from the assailants.

It was lucky he [the attacker] was not more persistent, because I don’t know what would have happened

Sergio Fariña's brother

But there was a problem: something was obstructing the roller blind, which failed to come down completely. As he was trying to fix the glitch, Fariña got stuck between both entrance doors at the very moment when one of the knife-wielding terrorists was attempting to come inside.

There was a scuffle as the two men pushed and pulled at the door. In the video voice-over, Fariña’s brother explains that “it was lucky he [the attacker] was not more persistent, because I don’t know what would have happened.”

Meanwhile, another Spaniard who reportedly stood up to one of the assailants in a separate incident, Ignacio Echeverría, remains missing. The Spanish government has also confirmed that a Spanish man known to have been injured in the attack is Alejandro Martínez, a graduate student who suffered chest, wrist and hand wounds, but whose injuries are not life-threatening.

English version by Susana Urra.

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