Flowers and tributes were left outside City Hall near Tower Bridge for victims of Saturday's London Bridge attacks in central London on Tuesday. The death toll increased to eight after a victim's body was recovered from River Thames on Tuesday. Photo by Will Oliver/EPA
June 7 (UPI) -- London's Metropolitan Police said specialists recovered the body of an eighth victim, identified as 45-year-old French national Xavier Thomas, from the River Thames following the London Bridge attack.
Met Police said Marine Police Unit specialist officers recovered the body Tuesday night near Limehouse, about 2 miles away from London Bridge. Detectives previously appealed for the public's help to locate Thomas, who had not been seen since the attack on Saturday.
"Formal identification has not yet taken place, however Mr. Thomas' next of kin have been informed of this development," Met Police said in a statement.
On Wednesday, officers from Met Police's Counter Terrorism Command, with the help of the Territorial Support Group, carried out a raid in east London's Ilford neighborhood in connection to the attack.
"A 30-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of terrorist acts and has been taken into custody at a south London police station under the Terrorism Act," Met Police said in a statement.
Police have arrested at least 14 people in connection to the attack, though most have been released without charge.
Met Police also said a large part of the closed-off crime scene has been reopened to the public, though Borough Market and a small surrounding area remain closed.
Authorities identified the three men believed to have launched the attack as Khuram Shazad Butt, Rachid Redouane and Youssef Zaghba.
In the assault, three masked men drove a van into pedestrians on the bridge before jumping out and stabbing people at random, police said. The men continued the assault in the adjacent Borough Market area, a popular bar and restaurant district.
The Islamic State took responsibility for the attack, though British officials have yet to confirm the militant group's involvement.
London officials installed barriers on various bridges to protect pedestrians. The barriers, made of concrete and metal, were placed on Lambeth Bridge, London Bridge, Waterloo Bridge and Westminster Bridge, where a similar attack occurred in March.
The London Bridge attack occurred a week after the Manchester Arena bombing in which 23 people, including the bomber, died following a concert.