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Martine's murder has made us scared to go out, say her friends
Benedict Moore-Bridger, Evening Standard19 Mar 2008
Friends of student Martine Vik Magnussen have told how they fear for their safety following her murder.
Miss Magnussen's body was found under rubble in the basement of a flat rented by her friend Farouk Abdulhak. A hunt has now been launched for 21-year-old Mr Abdulhak after he fled Britain to return to his native Yemen.
Students gathered at the Norwegian Church in Rotherhithe last night to pray for Miss Magnussen, 23, who was murdered after a night at Mayfair club Maddox.
At the ceremony Ingrid Skjelbred, 23, a friend of Miss Magnussen, said a lot of students were now scared to go out at night. Miss Skjelbred, from Bergen, said: "It is terrifying. People are worried about going to places like Maddox club now. There is a fear of talking to people you don't know. We are open and friendly people but this has changed all that."
Her sister Emely, 24, a stylist, said: "Alot of horrible things happen here, but when it is someone you can identify with it is even worse."
Priest Torbjorn Holt told the congregation, including the Norwegian vice ambassador, that Miss Magnussen was an "elegant, vivacious and intelligent" girl. He said her parents, Odd Petter Magnussen and ex-wife Kristin Vik Ronnaug, were "coping as well as they can at this extremely distressing and difficult time".
