‘I’m going to kill all Muslims’
BRITAIN: One person died at the scene and several people were injured after a van rammed into worshippers leaving a mosque in North London yesterday.
The Muslim Council of Britain said the vehicle hit people as they were leaving the Finsbury Park Mosque, one of Britain’s largest.
The attack came during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when people attend prayers at night.
The Muslim Council of Britain condemned the attack, calling it ‘‘the most violent manifestation’’ yet of Islamophobia and calling for extra security around the country’s mosques.
Police were called just after 12.20am (local time) to reports of a collision on Seven Sisters Rd, which runs through the Finsbury Park area of the city.
The man suspected of being the driver has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, and no other suspects have been identified or reported to police, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, senior national co-ordinator for counter-terrorism policing, said yesterday.
All the victims were Muslim, Basu said. One person was killed and eight people were taken to hospital and two others were treated at the scene. Basu said at least two of the injured were in serious condition.
The suspect ‘‘was very quickly and calmly given over to the police,’’ Basu said, as he praised the community. It shows that ‘‘Londoners will act together to protect themselves, and will do so in a way that doesn’t feed into terrorists’ hands.’’
He said it was too early to say whether the person’s death near the mosque was because of the attack by the van driver who ploughed into worshippers.
‘‘The attack unfolded as a man was already receiving first aid at the scene, sadly that man has died,’’ Basu said.
‘‘Any causative link between his death and the attack will form part of the investigation.
‘‘It is too early to say if his death was as a result of this attack.’’
The suspect screamed ‘‘I’m going to kill all Muslims’’ before he was tackled to the floor, according to one witness. Abdulrahman Salah 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 the group of worshippers.
‘‘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,’’ Salah Alamoudi said.
‘‘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.’’
Salah Alamoudi said they had to hold the suspect on the ground for up to half an hour before police arrived.
’’He was a strong guy. A big man,’’ Salah Alamoudi said. ’’It was heartbreaking. It wasn’t an accident.’’
The incident follows a series of attacks in Britain in recent months blamed on Islamist militants, the latest just over two weeks ago in which three men drove a vehicle into pedestrians on London Bridge and then went on to stab people at nearby restaurants and bars, killing eight.
One witness said it was clear that the attacker at Finsbury Park had deliberately targeted Muslims.
‘‘He tried to kill a lot of people so obviously it’s a terrorist attack. He targeted Muslims this time,’’ the witness, identified only as Rayan, said.
British Prime Minister Theresa May said the incident was being treated by police as a potential terrorist attack.
‘‘Police have confirmed this is being treated as a potential terrorist attack,’’ May said.
‘‘I will chair an emergency meeting later this morning (local time).
‘‘All my thoughts are with the victims, their families and the emergency services on the scene.’’
Earlier, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn expressed his shock at what had happened, writing on Twitter: ‘‘I’m totally shocked at the incident at Finsbury Park tonight.’’
British Home Secretary Amber Rudd says police ‘‘immediately’’ treated the fatal incident as a suspected terrorist attack.
‘‘Londoners have been hit with a series of attacks and have been nothing short of heroic,’’ Rudd, who is in charge for government law enforcement, said.
The chairman of the Finsbury Park Mosque, Mohammed Kozbar, has complained that the ‘‘mainstream media’’ was unwilling to call the attack a terrorist incident for many hours.
"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." Abdulrahman Salah Alamoudi