Non-terrorist events unsettle anxious Londoners
TWO incidents on Saturday have shown how nervous London is after recent terror attacks.
Eleven people were injured when a car crashed into pedestrians near London’s Natural History Museum, in one of the capital’s busiest tourist areas.
Meanwhile a ranting woman has been arrested after attempting to climb the front gates of Buckingham Palace.
The trespasser, thought to be in her 30s, was stopped by officers before she could make it over the gates to the palace grounds.
Police doused concerns the incidents were terrorist attacks.
They said the car had mounted the pavement outside the museum and hit a number of pedestrians.
Onlookers dragged the man from his car and pinned him to the ground. Officers arrested a man at the scene and he was taken away and questioned. Police later said it was a traffic incident.
Britain has suffered five attacks blamed on terrorism so far this year, three of which involved vehicles, and the incident in an area packed with tourists at the weekend had prompted concerns that the collision had been a deliberate act.
London’s ambulance service treated 11 people, mostly for head and leg injuries, with nine taken to hospital. Police said none of the injuries was lifethreatening.
Britain is on its second highest security alert level, meaning an attack by militants is considered highly likely.