Victims still in hospital two months after Finsbury Park terror attack
Finsbury Park Mosque service of hope: Mohammed Kozbar speaks on the two-week anniversary of the terror attack. Picture: Polly Hancock - Credit: Archant
Two victims of the Finsbury Park terror attack are still in hospital two months after a van ploughed into worshippers as they left night prayers.
Prince Charles sits with Cllr Rakia Ismail and her husband Yassin Hersi on a visit to Muslim Welfare House in Seven Sisters Road. Picture: John Nguyen/The Daily Telegraph/PA - Credit: PA Wire/PA Images
One of them has lost vision in one eye and the other suffered serious head injuries, Finsbury Park Mosque chairman Mohammed Kozbar told the Gazette.
“A couple of them are still in hospital seriously injured,” he said. “Some of the injuries will affect the victims for their whole lives.”
The Muslim community is still recovering from the attack in the early hours of June 19, but Mohammed said the show of support from the community had been heartwarming.
He continued: “The response has been really good in general and not just from the Muslim community. Everybody in Islington has responded very well with a show of solidarity, and some have offered help.
Vigil outside Finsbury Park Mosque in the wake of the Muslim Welfare House terror attack. Picture: Catherine Davison - Credit: Archant
“If anything good and positive came out of it, it’s how the community got together. We managed to raise £38,000 for the victims and we’ve distributed all the money.”
Worshippers were leaving the Muslim Welfare House in Seven Sisters Road at 12.20am when the attack took place. Yassin Hersi was tending to Makram Ali after he had collapsed in the street when the van was driven into the crowd.
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Mr Ali died of multiple injuries but Yassin escaped with a broken ankle. The father-of-four, who is married to Holloway councillor Rakhia Ismail, echoed Mohammed’s thoughts.
“The community is doing a really tough job,” he said. “It needs to stay strong. We are living in a multicultural community, we have to be accepting of one another.”
Makram Ali, 51, died after the terror attack in Finsbury Park, who died as a result of multiple injuries. Picture: Met Police/PA - Credit: PA
Yassin, who is on the mend, said he and the other survivors would be living with the physical and mental pain of what happened for a long time.
Darren Osborne, 47, of Cardiff, has been charged with murder and attempted murder and will next appear at the Old Bailey in November.
