ATTACK HAS LONDON MOURNING AGAIN
Terror strikes London again
LONDON again came under attack yesterday when a van mowed down a group of worshippers leaving a mosque, killing at least one person.
As of last night, one man had died and 10 others had been injured in what appeared to be the fourth terrorist attack in England in three months.
The attack happened just after midnight as worshippers, attending night prayers during the final week of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, left the mosque in Finsbury Park, in north London.
A man driving a white van slammed into worshippers who had stopped on a footpath to help an elderly man who had collapsed at a bus stop. Police had not confirmed last night whether he was the man who died at the scene.
Eyewitnesses reported hearing the driver scream “I want to kill Muslims’’.
Brave onlookers tackled a man, holding him on the ground for 20 minutes until police arrived.
The man, 48, was arrested and taken to hospital for a mental health assessment. He was later charged on suspicion of attempted murder.
One of the onlookers, Abdul, told the BBC: “I hit him in the stomach and he fell to the ground. I asked him ‘Why did you do that?’
“I was very emotional, very upset. ‘Why did you do that – you killed so many people?’ “He said ‘Kill me, kill me.’ “He was an English man. He looked like a builder – a very big man, very strong.”
Armed police and paramedics rushed to the scene and cor- doned off the streets. Eight of the hurt were taken to three local hospitals, and two others with minor injuries were treated at the scene by paramedics.
Prime Minister Theresa May said the incident was being treated as a “potential terrorist attack’’. She called an emergency meeting of national security committee Cobra.
And the Metropolitan Police said it had called in the counter-terrorism command to investigate.
The worshippers were struck a short distance from the mosque near the Muslim Welfare House on Seven Sisters Road, where they were going for a snack and a cup of coffee before Ramadan’s daytime fasting began.
Eyewitness Rabie Rafa, 42, said the man “laughed” when police arrested him.
“He just killed people and he laughed,’’ Mr Rafa told News Corp.
“He had just run people over, up the sidewalk and killed innocent people. It was horrible to witness.”
HE HAD JUST RUN PEOPLE OVER, UP THE SIDEWALK AND KILLED INNOCENT PEOPLE. IT WAS HORRIBLE TO WITNESS. EYEWITNESS RABIE RAFA