Westminster attack inquest: Tourist boat didn't try to rescue woman drowning in Thames, thinking she was already dead

'There was nothing stopping her being lifted by a matter of inches to see if she was alive,' says barrister

Andreea Cristea was killed in the Westminster attack (Supplied)

A victim of the Westminster Bridge terror attack was left face down in the River Thames by a passing tourist boat because the captain thought she was already dead, an inquest heard.

Andreea Cristea, 31, had plunged into the water after being hit by Khalid Masood’s vehicle on 22 March last year.

But despite shouts from the bridge, neither captain or skipper of the passing vessel attempted to rescue the Romanian student – who was still alive.

The Old Bailey heard skipper Danny Cooper hooked her with the boat’s 15ft pole but did not try to lift her face from the water or check for signs of life, instead waiting for fire crews to fish her out three minutes later.

As soon as she was out the water she “coughed and spluttered” and began to breathe – but died in hospital more than two weeks later on 6 April.

The inquest was told the crew were alerted to Ms Cristea by shouting from the bridge, but Mr Cooper said: “We presumed it was a body that had been in the water for a long time and by pulling on a dead body that has been in the water it was just going to fall apart.

“It wouldn’t have been nice for anyone involved. There were children sitting downstairs.”

Gareth Patterson QC, representing Ms Cristea’s family, said she had been in the river for just two minutes when she was first secured by the hook, but remained immersed face down for five minutes.

He said to Mr Cooper: “My suggestion is, if you wanted to get her out, Mr Gordon Markley and another man could have brought her out of the water with that 15ft pole. My suggestion is the hook is sufficient to grab the person and pull them up with the assistance of another person. This was a young woman of 5ft 5in, of slim build, weighing only 11 stone. Are you really suggesting she could not have been lifted by two men?”

The witness replied: “Definitely not”

Mr Patterson continued: “Mr Cooper, there was nothing stopping her being lifted by a matter of inches to see if she was alive, to lift her face out of the water?”

“I don’t know,” Mr Cooper responded.

The inquest heard London Fire Brigade‘s Fire Flash boat arrived on the scene and used a specialist piece of equipment to bring Ms Cristea on board.

Giving evidence, Mr Markley denied making a “death gesture” with his hand to the fire crew.

Mr Patterson suggested Ms Cristea “immediately started breathing” when she was pulled from the water.

He said: “With hindsight you might have approached things differently and at the very least tried to raise her face to see whether she might start breathing?”

Mr Markley replied: “With hindsight yes. I would have loved to have gone down into the water and done that. We did what we thought was appropriate.”

Later, Mr Patterson asked Dr Samy Sadek, the leader of the trauma team who treated Ms Cristea at the Royal London Hospital, if his patient might have survived had she been pulled from the water and treated at an earlier stage.

“I’m really sorry,” she replied. “I have absolutely no way of knowing or answering that.”

The inquest earlier heard that within the space of 82 seconds Masood, 52, knocked down and killed Kurt Cochran, 54, Leslie Rhodes, 75, Aysha Frade, 44, and Ms Cristea before stabbing PC Keith Palmer, 48, to death at the gates to the Palace of Westminster. Ms Cristea’s boyfriend, Andrei Burnaz, was also injured in the attack. Masood himself was shot dead.