One dead in ‘terrorist attack’ near London mosque

LONDON: A man rammed a van into worshippers coming out of a mosque in London after Ramzan prayers on Monday, killing one person and injuring 10 others in the third such terror incident to jolt the British capital in three months.

The attack took place just after midnight outside the Muslim Welfare House, which houses a mosque, on the Seven Sisters Road in the northern part of the city. The site of the incident is close to another mosque near the Finsbury Park on the same road.

Several worshippers were in the area at the time of incident after attending Ramzan prayers.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said police were treating it as a “terrorist incident”. A 48-year-old man has been arrested.

Eyewitness Abdul Rahman said the driver said he wanted to “kill all Muslims”.

“When the guy came out from his van he wanted to escape, run away and he was saying ‘I want to kill Muslims. ‘I want to kill Muslims’.

“I hit him on his stomach... and then me and the other guys... we held him to the ground until he couldn’t move. We stopped him until the police came,” he said.

One man was pronounced dead at the scene and eight others were injured. Two others were treated for minor injuries.

Metropolitan Police’s deputy assistant commissioner Neil Basu said the attack began when the van was driven into a man who was already being given first aid by the public on the pavement.

“All the victims were Muslim and there are currently no- other suspects,” he added.

Earlier, Prime Minister Theresa May said police were treating the van incident “as a potential terrorist attack”.

Earlier she described it as a “terrible incident”, adding: “All my thoughts are with those who have been injured, their loved ones and the emergency services on the scene.”

London Mayor Sadiq Khan condemned the attack.

He said the attack was deliberate and targeted ‘innocent Londoners, many of whom were finishing prayers during the holy month of Ramzan’.