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Body found in River Thames believed to be terror attack victim Xavier Thomas.

Police searching for French national Xavier Thomas, who has been missing since the London terror attack, have recovered a body from the River Thames.

Thomas, 45, is thought to have been struck by the terrorists’ van on London Bridge and witnesses reported him being thrown into the water.

The Metropolitan Police says the body was found on Tuesday downstream near Limehouse from the bridge.

Listen: In the wake of terror attacks in London, Sydney and Paris, we’re beginning to ask; are we suffering from terror fatigue?

The force says formal identification has not yet taken place, but Thomas’ next of kin have been informed.

Thomas was walking with his girlfriend over the bridge when the attack began on Saturday night.

Police said earlier that witness accounts suggested Thomas might have been thrown into the river.

Thomas’ girlfriend was struck and seriously injured by the van.

So far five of those killed in Saturday night’s attack have been named as Australians Kirsty Boden and Sara Zelenak, Canadian national Chrissy Archibald, James McMullan, from Hackney, and French national Alexandre Pigeard.

Wednesday’s announcement comes as UK authorities face new questions over how one of the London Bridge attackers was let into Britain despite being on a security watch list.

Youssef Zaghba had been flagged to British intelligence services after telling Italian police “I’m going to be a terrorist” when he was reportedly stopped trying to travel to Syria.

Italian prosecutor Giuseppe Amato said there was not enough evidence to arrest or charge the 22-year-old when he was caught at Bologna airport last year.

He said Zaghba was always tracked by Italian intelligence officers while in the country and that UK authorities were informed.

“We did everything we could have done, but there weren’t elements of proof that he was a terrorist,” he added.

The youngest of the attackers, an Italian national of Moroccan descent, he was allowed to enter the UK and had been living in east London.

Counter-terror agencies were already under intense scrutiny after it was revealed Khuram Shazad Butt, 27, and Rachid Redouane, 30, were also known to security services.