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Home / World

Sara Zelenak's family 'bracing for the worst' after London terror attack

By James Law
news.com.au·
6 Jun, 2017 06:28 PM4 mins to read

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Thousands have turned out for a vigil to honour the victims of the London Bridge attack.

Family and friends of an Australian woman missing after the London terror attack are "bracing for the worst" - and there is a key reason they fear she may not have survived.

Sara Zelenak, a 21-year-old nanny from Brisbane, became separated from her friend on Saturday night as people ran for their lives from a white van ploughing into pedestrians on London Bridge.

Zelenak was leaving the bar London Grind, near the bridge, with her friend Pri Goncalves when they heard the van crash and saw people running from the carnage.

Goncalves lost Zelenak straight away and she told Fairfax that the high heels she was wearing may have slowed her down.

"I ran thinking she would be running with me but I looked back and she wasn't there," she said.

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Sara Zelenak (right) was separated from friends during the attack. Photo/Facebook
Sara Zelenak (right) was separated from friends during the attack. Photo/Facebook

Goncalves fled through Borough Market and when she saw a terrorist stab a man there, she tried to call Zelenak via web-based messaging service WhatsApp. She attempted to reach her three times, but there was no answer.

Zelenak still hasn't checked her Whatsapp since five minutes before the London Bridge terror attack began.

"I wish I could have grabbed her hand," Goncalves told Fairfax, admitting that she felt guilty about having lost her friend.

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Meanwhile, Zelenak's friends have raised $15,000 via a fundraising page to help with the search and to fly her parents to London.

Speaking to media yesterday outside the family's home in Ormiston, east of Brisbane, Zelenak's aunt Tara said she was an "absolutely beautiful" girl.

"The family is trying to keep it together but bracing for the worst obviously," she said.

"Sara is absolutely beautiful. She is the girl next door, she is a very special kindred spirit.

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"She's one of those people that doesn't drink, doesn't do drugs, doesn't do anything wrong.

"She's amazing and she's 21 years of age."

Ondre Zelenak, the father of Sara Zelenak. Photo/Facebook
Ondre Zelenak, the father of Sara Zelenak. Photo/Facebook

Zelenak's mother Julie Wallace had planned to visit her daughter in France later this month.

"We were counting down the days to see her," Wallace told Brisbane radio station 97.3FM.

"The last time I spoke to her was our time Friday afternoon at 4.42 and she said, 'Oh mum! It's only 28 days until you and I and dad can have baguettes and cheese and croissants in Paris. I'm so excited to go to Paris!' because she hasn't been.

"She's a very smart, sensible girl. She is healthy, fit, trim, taut, terrific - she doesn't do anything wrong in any way.

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"She's very sensible, far more sensible than I was at her age."

Wallace said she had reacted with "absolute horror" when she was notified that her daughter was missing.

"My husband and my boys are insanely distraught. We are a very close family but I have to stay strong for them, because that's what I have to do," she told 97.3FM.

Zelenak's mother also revealed that her daughter had narrowly avoided being caught up in both the Manchester and Westminster terror attacks that rocked the UK earlier this year.

She had planned to attend the Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena on May 22, where 22 were killed, and was also on Westminster Bridge the day before five people were killed when a terrorist mowed down pedestrians in a car.

Sara Zelenak (left) was due home in August. Photo/Facebook
Sara Zelenak (left) was due home in August. Photo/Facebook

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has confirmed that Ms Zelenak was among four Australians believed to have been caught up in the attack and said the government had "real concerns" for her safety.

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South Australian nurse Kirsty Boden, 28, has been confirmed dead after being attacked by terrorists on London Bridge. The other two Australians, Candice Hedge and Andrew Morrison, are recovering from injuries sustained in Saturday night's horror.

Seven people were killed and dozens more were injured when three men in a van drove into pedestrians on London Bridge and then went on a frenzied stabbing rampage in nearby Borough Market.

- with AAP

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