Emirati women cautious about London after hammer attack

"After what has happened, it is scary, especially that my trips used to include my mother and my sisters only,” says one Emirati woman following the horrific attack of three Emirati women in London which left one of them fighting for her life.

ABU DHABI // Emirati women have expressed their fears over travelling to London after the horrific hammer attack on three sisters.

One woman, who wished to be known only as N H, 24, visits the British capital almost every year, but said she would stay away for now.

“I was comfortable in London, very familiar with it. [But] after what has happened, it is scary, especially that my trips used to include my mother and my sisters only. This will change my idea on the security of any state,” she said.

Khuloud Al Najjar, 36, and her sisters Ohoud, 34, and Fatima, 31, were attacked in their room on the seventh floor of the Cumberland Hotel in central London on April 6 by a man wielding a hammer.

Khuloud suffered life-threatening injuries. She has lost her left eye and has only 5 per cent of her brain function.

The other two sisters have several skull fractures and broken bones.

N H said many people from the Arabian Gulf choose the Cumberland for its “perfect strategic location”. The hotel is at one end of Oxford Street and the north-east corner of Hyde Park.

But she believes people might reappraise its popularity. She also questioned the hotel’s security, recalling how her luggage was stolen from the hotel’s entrance in 2008.

“After the incident I analysed what happened. I remember the elevators did not have the card holder system that most hotels have. Having that prevents people who are not staying at the hotel from entering. The elevators were not safe and anyone could have gone through them,” she said.

She advised people from the Arabian Gulf, who “usually carry lots of cash” not to “show off”.

“People going to London have to keep in mind there are many diverse cultures there and not everyone is well off and people of the Gulf tend to dress up and that keeps eyes on them,” she said.

Emirati H S, who was on holiday in Germany at the time of the incident, said women should not travel alone. “It is unacceptable,” she said.

Another member of her family, F R, said the attack created a sense of insecurity, which would make her more cautious.

However, others said the incident would not prevent them from going to London.

Fatema Al Fardan, 23, visits the UK capital every year and considers it her “home away from home”.

“My father brings us to London very often because he lived and studied there for four years. I’ve been going to London since I was brought to this world and I always feel safe there,” she said.

She said the UK “will always be our favourite country after the UAE”. Attacks such as this could occur in any country, she added, and it should not remove London from the tourism list.

Four people have been in court in relation to the attack, while a fifth has been bailed pending further inquiries.