Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
‘I heard shots then saw two bodies by crashed car’
Canterbury and Whitstable MP Sir Julian Brazier has described how he was just yards from the terrorist incident at the House of Parliament yesterday (Wednesday).
The Conservative was walking back to his office at the House of Commons when he heard gunfire and saw two bodies on the floor next to a car which crashed into railings at the front of the Palace of Westminster.
Speaking to the Gazette shortly before it went to press, Sir Julian said: “I was walking through the tunnel from Portcullis House when I heard shots and then a lot of people ran out of Westminster underground station. I then walked out on to Westminster Bridge and looked across and could see a car which had crashed into the railings. I could see two bodies on the floor more or less underneath the car.”
Initial reports from central London suggested a lone attacker ploughed a vehicle into people walking along Westminster Bridge before crashing into a fence at the Houses of Parliament and getting into the grounds. The middle-aged Asian man is then said to have stabbed a police officer before he was shot by another policeman.
It was understood more than a dozen people were hurt. A woman taken to St Thomas’ Hospital died of her injuries. Doctors say other victims have suffered catastrophic injuries.
Sir Julian added: “The police did a great job. They had the situation quickly under control.”
Faversham and Mid-kent Conservative MP Helen Whately was in the House of Commons when the chamber went into lockdown. She said: “It is shocking to hear about the policeman who has been attacked. He has been put in danger in his line of duty to protect the public and that is something which is weighing heavy on all of us.”
Herne Bay MP Sir Roger Gale heard four shots ring out. He said: “We were half way through voting in the chamber when everyone was locked in.”
Yesterday’s incident comes just weeks after it emerged UK security services have foiled 13 potential attacks in less than four years. It was also carried out on the first anniversary of the Brussels terror attacks in which 32 people were killed and more than 300 injured.
The official threat level for international terrorism has stood at severe for more than two years, with attacks regarded as “highly likely”.