On their second day of vacation in London, Tina and Tony Garera had dinner close to the Borough Market.
Just hours later, the Northern Kentucky natives learned people were stabbed near the market and a driver ran over pedestrians on the London Bridge, less than one mile away from their hotel.
Police say the two attacks are “terrorist incidents.”
Tina Garera, of Taylor Mill, said she and her husband were in their hotel when they heard about the attacks, but she’s worried for the people she has met while vacationing.
“We’re with a group, a tour, so we’ve met a lot of people, and we’re just hoping that they’re all safe … the streets were extremely crowded tonight, of course being Saturday. It’s concerning, very concerning,” she said.
The pair leaves for Liverpool in the morning, and Tina said Saturday night’s attacks make her feel like she has to be more vigilant.
“I was nervous about coming anyway just because of the other incidents, but everybody said ‘It’s safe, you’ll be safe.’ So it is a little scary that it’s happening again," she said.
The London Bridge and Borough Market attacks come less than three months after an attacker ran down people with a vehicle on Westminster Bridge, killing four, then stabbed a policeman to death outside Parliament.
Tina said her family has been checking on them nonstop.
“The phones have been ringing here, and instant messaging and Facebook, and when we realized what was going on, we put out a message on Facebook that we were all okay,” she said.
Dr. Perilou Goddard, who teaches drug policy and addiction science classes at Northern Kentucky University, is also vacationing in London.
Goddard posted on Facebook that she and her husband are safe at their hotel.
WCPO Producer Helen Tracey-Noren and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
