Images of a woman appearing to pray for and comfort the Woolwich machete attack victim have emerged.
The woman, believed to be in her fifties, was witnessed approaching the suspects, asking for permission to go to the dying man (since named as Drummer Lee Rigsby).
“Let me comfort him,” she reportedly pleaded.
The unnamed woman kneels by the dying victim after pleading with the suspects for permission to comfort him
Witness Joe Tallant, 20, told The Mirror: “She is a very religious woman. She saw everything and wanted to comfort the man.
“She just walked up to them with no fear. She put her hands on his chest and I think she prayed for him. The poor man’s head was beside her.”
Dubbed “the angel of Woolwich” by The Daily Mail, the woman’s identity is as yet unknown.
Another woman who intervened in the aftermath of the attack is Ingrid Loyau-Kennett, who confronted the men and urged them to hand over their weapons, warning them: “It is only you versus many people, you are going to lose.”
The 48-year-old told the Daily Telegraph that one of the attackers said to her that they "want to start a war in London tonight".
One of the suspects was holding knives and had bloodied hands
The mother-of-two, a Cub Scout leader from Cornwall, added: "Being a Cub leader I have my first aid so when I saw this guy on the floor I thought it was an accident - then I saw the guy was dead and I could not feel any pulse.
A man with bloodied hands swore to "never stop fighting" as emergency crews rushed to the scenes.
Footage obtained by ITV news showed the man carrying knives, speaking into a camera.
It shows the suspect, wearing a dark jacket, jeans and a beanie hat, calmly walking towards the camera with what appears to be two large knives clasped by the handles in his bloodied left hand.
Gesticulating with both hands - while gripping the weapons - the man points to his own face as he says: "We must fight them as they fight us. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth."
Ingrid Loyau-Kennett confronts the man
Prime Minister David Cameron praised Loyau-Kennett's actions and branded the killing a "betrayal of Islam".
Speaking in Downing Street on Thursday morning, the prime minister said there was "absolutely no justification" for the murder which is believed to have been carried out by Islamist extremists.
"What happened yesterday in Woolwich has sickened us all. On our televisions last night and in our newspapers this morning we have all seen images that are deeply shocking. The people who did this were trying to divide us. They should know something like this will only bring us together and make us stronger," he said.
