Tributes have been paid to the man who died at the scene of a terrorist attack outside a north London mosque this week, who has been named as 51-year-old Makram Ali.
Ali, from Haringey in north London, died from multiple injuries. He came to the UK from Bangladesh aged 10, and was married with four daughters, two sons, and two grandchildren. Police said he regularly attended the mosque and enjoyed visiting the local park with this grandchildren.
His family met senior investigators on Thursday at New Scotland Yard. Detectives from the Met's counterterror command are appealing for witnesses who saw the incident, after midnight on 19 June, on Seven Sisters Road. Ali was pronounced dead at the scene at 1:04am.
The family said in a statement released via the police that Ali was a quiet man who had no enemies. "We are devastated by the loss of a husband, father, brother and grandfather, Makram Ali, in this tragic event," they said.
"Our father was a quiet, gentle man, he didn’t get involved in political or social discussion, he instead took comfort and enjoyment spending time with his wife, children and grandchildren and he was always ready to make a funny joke when you least expected.
"We wish everyone to know what a loving man he was, he spent his whole life without any enemies, choosing a quiet life instead. We as a family have always believed that the actions of one person cannot be a reflection of a whole people and I have no doubt that our father would not wish for there to be any retaliation or recriminations and would urge people to remain calm and to pray for peace in these difficult times."
Several other victims were injured in the incident, including four who remain in hospital, two of whom are receiving critical care.
So far detectives have sifted through 80 hours of CCTV footage and interviewed 28 witnesses who were at the scene. They have also visited 140 locations and seized 33 digital devices from a number of properties in Wales as part of the investigation.
A 47-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the attack and he remains in custody. On Tuesday police obtained a new warrant to keep him in custody until the early hours of Saturday.
The Met released a new photo of the van it says was used in the attack. Detectives believe it was driven from Cardiff to London at 8:20am on Sunday.
