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London terrorist attack outside British parliament: What we know | London terrorist attack outside British parliament: What we know |
(about 3 hours later) | |
A terrorist attack shook central London on Wednesday, with at least 5 people killed and 40 more injured. RT shares what details are known so far. | |
What happened? | |
A car reportedly crossed Westminster Bridge mowing down pedestrians on its way to the UK Houses of Parliament. | |
An eyewitness, Richard Tice, told RT: “For the whole length of the bridge, from south to north, there were people lying on the ground and I was then told that a car had driven from the south end all the way up the pavement to the north end of the bridge.” | |
The car hit the railing surrounding the parliament buildings. | |
A police officer was stabbed at the Carriage Gates and the assailant shot. | |
Attacker and motives | |
The alleged attacker has not been identified. The assailant is thought to have acted alone. | |
“We think we know who the attacker is,” said Acting Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Mark Rowley, Britain’s most senior counter-terrorism officer. He added that police were not willing to divulge the assailant’s name at this time, although “Islamic terrorism is our assumption.” | |
“We’ve declared this a terrorist incident and the counter-terrorism command are carrying out a full-scale investigation into the events today,” Rowley told reporters. | |
Victims | |
Five people are dead, including police officer PC Keith Palmer, a 15-year veteran of the force, and the attacker. The three other victims were pedestrians hit by the car. | |
"At this stage – but it may change – we believe approximately 40 people were injured, including three police officers,” Rowley said. | |
St Thomas Hospital says it is treating people with “catastrophic” injuries after the vehicle reportedly mounted the pavement on the bridge and “tried to mow people down.” | |
Shocking videos and photos show people lying on the bridge, bleeding heavily, with distraught members of the public rushing to their aid. | |
Lockdown | |
Lawmakers were kept on lockdown inside the parliament buildings while police secured the scene, and tourists were trapped on the nearby London Eye for about three hours. | |
Downing Street says Prime Minister Theresa May will chair a Cabinet Office Briefing Room (COBRA) emergency meeting on Wednesday night. | Downing Street says Prime Minister Theresa May will chair a Cabinet Office Briefing Room (COBRA) emergency meeting on Wednesday night. |
May is safe after the incident, Downing Street said. | May is safe after the incident, Downing Street said. |