Pedestrians hit near mosque
At least one person is killed and 10 are injured in a possible terrorist attack.
At least one person is killed and 10 injured in London in what police are investigating as a potential terrorist attack.
LONDON — A vehicle struck pedestrians near a mosque in north London early Monday, killing at least one person and injuring 10 others in what police are investigating as a potential terrorist attack.
The Metropolitan Police said the 48-year-old man who was driving the van was arrested and taken to a hospital as a precaution. He will be given a mental health evaluation.
The crash occurred at a time when the multiethnic neighborhood was crowded with Muslims leaving the Finsbury Park mosque after Ramadan prayers.
Police said officers were called to the scene on the Seven Sisters Road at 12:20 a.m., and the driver was detained by the crowd until they arrived.
Eight of the injured were hospitalized; the two others had minor injuries and were treated at the scene, police said.
Witnesses reported seeing police give emergency heart massage to at least one of the injured.
The Muslim Council tweeted that worshipers were struck by a van and said its prayers were with the victims.
London police closed the area to traffic. A helicopter circled overhead as a large cordon was established to keep motorists and pedestrians away.
Witnesses told British media that the van seemed to have veered and hit people intentionally.
The neighborhood has two mosques, and several hundred worshipers would have been in the area after attending prayers as part of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Mohammed Shafiq of the Ramadhan Foundation, a Muslim organization, said that based on the witness reports it seemed to be a “deliberate attack against innocent Muslims.”
The Finsbury Park mosque was associated with extremist ideology for several years after the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States but was shut down and reorganized. It has not been associated with radical views for more than a decade.
Prime Minister Theresa May described the crash as a “potential terrorist attack” and said she would hold an emergency security Cabinet session Monday. She said her thoughts were with the injured, their loved ones and emergency officials who responded to the incident.
This month, a van veered into pedestrians on London Bridge, setting off vehicle and knife attacks that killed eight people and wounded others. Three Muslim extremists who carried out the attack were killed by police.