4 dead , 20 hurt as terror strikes heart of London
Assailant neutralised, PM Theresa whisked away to safety
LONDON: Four people were killed and at least 20 injured in London on Wednesday after a car ploughed into pedestrians and an attacker stabbed a policeman close to the British parliament, in what police called a terrorist incident.
The dead included the assailant and the policeman he stabbed, while the other two victims were among the pedestrians hit by the car as it tore along Westminster Bridge, which is right next to parliament.
“We’ve declared this as a terrorist incident and the counterterrorism command are carrying out a full-scale investigation into the events today,” Mark Rowley, Britain’s most senior counter-terrorism officer, told reporters.
“PM Theresa May is being kept updated and will shortly chair COBR,” said another official, referring to a meeting of the government’s emergency security committee to be held later on Wednesday.
“The attack started when a car was driven over Westminster Bridge, hitting and injuring a number of members of the public, also including three police officers on their way back from a commendation ceremony,”
added Rowley “A car then crashed near to parliament and at least one man, armed with a knife continued the attack and tried to enter parliament.”
Reporters who were inside parliament at the time heard loud bangs and shortly afterwards saw the knifeman and the stabbed policeman lying on the ground in a courtyard just outside, within the gated perimeter of the parliamentary estate.
A photographer said he saw at least a dozen people injured on the bridge.
His photographs showed people lying on the ground, some of them bleeding heavily and one under a bus.
A woman was pulled alive, but with serious injuries, from the Thames, the Port of London Authority said. The circumstances of her fall into the river were unclear. Three French schoolchildren aged 15 or 16 were among those injured in the attack, French officials said.
The attack took place on the first anniversary of attacks by Islamist militants that killed 32 people in Brussels.
LONDON: Scotland Yard triggered its swift counter-terror response on Wednesday after two incidents in the vicinity of the bustling Parliament complex in the heart of London prompted a lockdown, with Prime Minister Theresa May whisked to safety.
MPs, guests and schoolchildren visiting the Palace of Westminster were confined in the central lobby after the incidents – a knife attack on a police officer and a car ploughing through people on Westminster Bridge – left three people dead, including a police officer.
The attacker was shot dead by armed police, Britain’s top antiterror officer said, adding that 20 people were injured on Westminster Bridge after the attacker mowed down pedestrians in a car.
Prime Minister Theresa May, who was in the Parliament complex after addressing Prime Minister’s Question Time around noon, was seen being ushered to a car by police officers and taken to her residence at Downing Street. All approach roads to Westminster and tube stations in the vicinity were shut.
In Edinburgh, the Scottish Parliament also suspended its sitting. The incidents occurred against the backdrop of heightened security measures in London, with Britain being on the second highest terrorist threat level of “severe”, which means a terrorist attack is highly likely in the country.
The popular London Eye stopped moving, with visitors held within its capsules.
David Lidlington, leader of the House of Commons, said: “At the moment the very clear advice from the police and director of security in the House is we should remain under suspension and the chamber remain in lockdown until we receive advice that it is safe.”
An emergency services helicopter landed in Parliament Square, overlooked by statues of Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Winston Churchill, as eyewitnesses gave accounts of the two incidents.
Witness Don Brind, a researcher for MPs, said: “I heard some shouting and saw some running out of the corner of my eye and then a short time after that there was a shot. I looked and I saw a civilian on the ground, with somebody standing over him with what I assumed to be a gun.Then I looked and about 10 yards away, there was a yellow jacketed person on the ground, who appeared to be alive and talking.”
Metropolitan Police asked people to avoid Parliament Square, Whitehall, which is home to key ministries and the Cabinet Office, Westminster Bridge, and Victoria Street up to the junction with Broadway to allow emergency services to deal with the incident.
“Police were called at approximately 14:40 hours to reports of an incident in Westminster Bridge, SW1,” police said in a statement. “Officers - including firearms officers - remain on the
THE DEAD INCLUDED THE ASSAILANT AND THE POLICEMAN HE STABBED, WHILE THE OTHER TWO VICTIMS WERE AMONG THE PEDESTRIANS
scene and we are treating this as a terrorist incident until we know otherwise.”
Police also appealed to the public to share images or footage of the incidents.
Britain is on its second-highest alert level of “severe” meaning an attack by militants is considered highly likely.