Westminster Bridge attack victim's sister refuses to dwell on killer

The sister of a Romanian tourist who fell into the Thames during the Westminster terror attack has said she refuses to dwell on the killer.

Andreea Cristea, 31, and boyfriend Andrei Burnaz, were driven at by Khalid Masood on London's Westminster Bridge.

A year after the attack, Magda Toi said thinking of her sister's killer only made her angry.

"I'm not interested in it because my sister is dead and no-one and nothing will bring her back," she said.

Ms Cristea, on her first trip to the UK, was hurled into the Thames as Masood sped at a crowd on Westminster Bridge on 22 March 2017.

She survived the 20ft (6m) fall from the bridge, despite being seriously injured. She died in hospital two weeks later.

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Three months after her death she was buried in her home town of Constanța, Romania.

Ms Cristea, was one of five people killed by Masood, who was shot dead by armed officers.

Magda Toi said she had desperately hoped her sister would survive

Commemorations have been held across London to mark the anniversary of the Westminster terror attack, including:

• MPs observed a minute's silence in the Commons to remember the dead, while faith groups held a vigil in Trafalgar Square

• Prime Minister Theresa May has laid a floral tribute outside Parliament

• The Mayor of London has organised a digital book of condolence, as part of a 3D installation in City Hall that will be open to the public until 19 June - the anniversary of the Finsbury Park attack

Khalid Masood was shot dead by armed officers

Ms Cristea had been posing for a photograph just minutes before she was hit, her family said.

Ms Toi recalled the moment Mr Burnaz called to say there had been an attack.

"You don't expect to hear on the phone that something tragic has happened," she said.

Describing her sister, who she helped to raise, Ms Toi said: "She was very joyful, she was always smiling and loving life. She loved to travel.

"We desperately hoped that she wouldn't die. We thought - if she was found alive in the river - there would be a small chance of survival.

Andreea posed for a photograph moments before the attack on Westminster Bridge

"She survived the brain operation and we thought - she has a chance. But she didn't."

Ms Toi added: "It's very hard to express in words how you feel about someone you miss.

"We still don't believe that this is happening. It's like a nightmare that we wait to finish.

"We wait for her to come to the door or to ring on the phone and suddenly you wake up and know that this won't happen."

She said the family would mark the first anniversary of the attack by taking donations and food to a children's centre.