A restaurant owner has told how he and other staff led 130 customers to safety as the London Bridge terror attackers stormed towards the premises on their deadly rampage.

Mark Stembridge told the Huffington Post that his staff at Café Brood, three of whom were former members of the Albanian military, helped pull customers inside to safety from the terrace where they were dining as they saw three men carrying huge knives heading for the building.

He said his staff remained calm under pressure as pandemonium broke out in the Borough Market area, which was bustling with people enjoying themselves on a balmy Saturday evening.

Cafe Brood owner who employs 15 staff, said: “It was frightening, no one really knew what was going on.

“Three Asian guys came down towards the cafe down some steps shouting.

“They had come out of the van and were coming at pace towards us.

“We had around 130 people outside on the terrace.

“The staff protected all the customers and the three guys just hesitated and then they went off towards the Borough Bistro where I heard some people were stabbed.

“They then went into the Mudlark and into the market itself.”

He added: “My staff were great and were very very quick to react, if it wasn’t for them the customers could have lost their lives.

“Four of my staff are from Albania and some have been in the military and they are used to dealing with the conflict that they have been brought up in.

He said it was not long before the terrorists had completed a loop of the market and came back to Cafe Brood before continuing onto the Black and Blue restaurant where they were finally gunned down by police.

After the attack police evacuated many of the survivors from Borough Market to Liverpool Street where they took witness statements and kept witnesses inside until Sunday morning.

Sources:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/cafe-brood-london-attacks-borough-markets-mark-stembridge-led-diners-to-safety-a7772541.html