LONDON ON ALERT
Terror cops swoop on driver after museum car smash
A CABBIE sparked a huge terror panic yesterday after mounting the kerb and injuring 11 at the Natural History Museum.
Police screamed “run, run” as armed anti-terror cops swooped and the driver was pinned down in a pool of blood.
A child was one of nine taken to hospital after the car swerved across the road and ploughed into the pedestrians at one of Britain’s busiest tourist spots.
The driver jumped from the car and started running, but he was brought to the ground before being led away with cuts.
Gunfire
Engineer Sophie Parry, 56, said: “We heard three pops, they sounded like gunfire but it seems it could have been the car hitting bollards.
“I looked up and we could see the car with a cyclist on the bonnet. It veered across the road and hit two parked cars.
“We couldn’t see anyone in the car but people were tending to the cyclist.”
Another witness, who did not want to be named, said: “He revved his engine and there were three loud bangs.
“He hit the wall and people were laid out on the floor.
“But he jumped from the car and started running. Someone rugby tackled him to the floor and he was pinned down.”
His smashed-up black Toyota Prius was a registered taxi with a private hire licence. One report said he was an Uber driver. Scores of ambulances were scrambled to the scene in Kensington, West London, as a huge cordon was thrown up around the site.
A helicopter hovered overhead as swarms of officers combed the site.
The security worker and his pal who tackled the driver were driven away by police.
The incidentncident comes as the UK remains s on high terror alert. It t was serious enough to warrant a comment ent from the Prime Minister.
Theresa esa May said: “My thanks hanks to the first responders sponders at this incidentident this afternoon oon and the actions ions of members ers of the public.blic. My thoughtshts are with the in- jured.” Two terrorist attacks in London this summer left 12 dead and 98 injured. But last night police confirmed the crash was a road accident.
Nearby workers told how they helped shelter people fleeing before police evacuated.
A chef at the Casa Brindisa restaurant said:sa “People were runn running down the str street screaming. T They came flooding in into the restaurant to get off the street. B But in seconds, the police were here ordering people to get out of the restaurant.”
Another witness who was visiting the Victoria and Albert Museum, overlooking Exhibition Road, said: “I could see a woman and a child on the ground being treated by paramedics.
“The child looked primary school age, but I couldn’t tell if it was a boy or girl.
“It seemed as though they were stabilising them to take them to hospital. “We could see a handful of other people standing around with the paramedics a nd police, but it wasn’t clear if they had been injured or not.”
Pixie Lott’s f i ance Oliver Cheshire helped to restrain the man behind the wheel.
The model, 29, took to Twitter to say he was one of the have-ago heroes who helped to detain the bloodied driver on the ground. Last night he said: “Thanks for messaging everybody. I’m OK. Thank you to the men who helped me pin him down and the police.”
The chaos erupted at the busiest time of day on a Saturday afternoon at 2.20pm.
The Natural History and V&A museums attract nearly eight million visitors a year.
A spokesman for Scotland Yard said: “Injuries are not believed to be life-threatening or life- changing. The man detained is currently in custody at a North London police station. The incident is a road traffic investigation and not a terrorist-related incident.”