Screaming driver said ‘I’m going to kill all Muslims’

WITNESSES have described the aftermath after a van was driven into pedestrians near a north London mosque, leaving one man dead and eight injured.

According to one man at the scene, the suspect – a 48-year-old who was detained by onlookers before being arrested by police – screamed “I’m going to kill all Muslims” before he was tackled to the ground.

Abdulrahman Saleh Alamoudi said he was among a group of people helping an elderly worshipper who had fallen down, perhaps because of the heat, when the van swerved towards them.

He said: “This big van just came and went all over us. I think at least eight or 10 people got injured. Luckily I managed to escape. And then the guy came out of his van and I got him.

“He was screaming, he was saying, ‘I’m going to kill all Muslims, I’m going to kill all Muslims’. He was throwing punches.

“Then we managed to get him on the floor. Then he was saying, ‘Kill me, kill me’. I said: ‘We are not going to kill you. Why did you do that?’ He wouldn’t say anything.”

Another witness, Abdikadar Warfa, said he helped to detain the suspect while his friends helped victims.

Aweys Sheikh Ali said: “Seven people were hurt that I could see. There was a lady [among them]. Most of the people were on the floor, one had an injury on his head, one on the leg. All of the injuries were bad.

“This was an attack, absolutely, a terror attack.”

Local resident Abdul Abdullahi walked past the mosque minutes before the van hit pedestrians. The 18-year-old returned to the scene when he heard about the incident and said there was a “sense of confusion” as people lay on the floor.

Mr Abdullahi said the arrested man looked “indifferent” and “like he didn’t even care”.