MAN DRIVES CAR INTO CROWD IN LONDON
LONDON:A man drove his car into barricades outside the houses of Parliament in Westminster on Tuesday, injuring several pedestrians and cyclists, with Scotland Yard saying the attack was being treated as a terrorist incident.
Driving vehicles into pedestrians was a feature of terror attacks on Westminster bridge and London bridge in 2017, in which 13 people were killed and nearly 100 injured.
The male suspect in his 20s was arrested, and police said he was not cooperating with the investigation. The nearby Westminster tube station was closed and a cordon thrown around the area.
No groups had taken responsibility for Tuesday’s incident.
The Theresa May government called an emergency meeting on Tuesday afternoon to review the situation.
BBC cited its sources as saying that the suspect, who was not formally identified, was from the Birmingham area, which has a large population of South Asianorigin. “Given that this appears to be a deliberate act, the method and this being an iconic site, we are treating it as a terrorist incident and the investigation is being led by officers from the Counter-Terrorism Command,” said assistant police commissioner Neil Basu of Scotland Yard.
He said the vehicle collided with cyclists and pedestrians before hitting a barrier and coming to a stop.
Two people, a man and a woman, were in hospital but for non-life threatening injuries. Another man was treated at the scene and did not require hospital treatment.
Parliament is not on session during summer holidays, but the area is a popular destination for tourists and visitors. Among several statues of leaders in Parliament Square in the vicinity are those of Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.