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Natural History Museum: Police incident after 'car mounts pavement', injuring number of pedestrians outside London attraction Natural History Museum: Police incident after 'car mounts pavement', injuring number of pedestrians outside London attraction
(about 5 hours later)
Almost a dozen people were injured after a car mounted the pavement outside London’s Natural History Museum. A minicab driver sparked a major terror alert when his car mounted the pavement and ploughed into pedestrians in the heart of one of London’s busiest tourist areas. 
Video footage posted on Twitter showed a man being restrained on the ground by members of the public after the incident  in South Kensington. Eleven people were injured outside London’s Natural History Museum. Those hurt were mostly suffering from head or leg injuries, the London Ambulance Service said, with nine taken to hospital. None were in a life-threatening condition and the detained man was among those being treated. 
The incident sparked fears of a terrorist attack in an area busy with families, but Scotland Yard later confirmed it was being treated as a road traffic collision and was "not being treated as a terror-related incident". Video footage posted on Twitter showed a man being restrained on the ground by members of the public after the incident in South Kensington.
Eleven people treated were mostly suffering from head or leg injuries, the London Ambulance Service said, with nine taken to hospital. A witness told The Independent: “I saw two cars, they crashed. Two men got out of one car and took one man from the other. That’s all I saw.”
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “A man has been detained at the scene. Enquiries to establish the circumstances and motive are underway.”
Dozens of officers descended on the area, and a wide cordon is in place.
The Prime Minister was being kept “fully informed” of developments, it was reported.
London mayor Sadiq Khan said: “A number of people have been injured. A man has been detained by police. Details are still emerging and I have spoken with, and am in close contact with Assistant Met Commissioner Mark Rowley and our other emergency services.”
A witness told The Independent: “I saw two cars, they crashed. Two men got out of one car and took one man from the other. That’s all I saw.”
Lesley Carter drove past the scene moments after the initial incident.Lesley Carter drove past the scene moments after the initial incident.
He told The Independent: “Saw the man pinned down by about six people. One guy was trying to pin him down with his four- or five-year-old daughter in his arms.He told The Independent: “Saw the man pinned down by about six people. One guy was trying to pin him down with his four- or five-year-old daughter in his arms.
“It looked like the car had smashed in to the wall between two other cars and the guy got out to run before being pinned down. Loads of people running away and within minutes the police had turned up.”“It looked like the car had smashed in to the wall between two other cars and the guy got out to run before being pinned down. Loads of people running away and within minutes the police had turned up.”
Another witness told Sky News: “I was in one of the Chinese restaurants eating. All of a sudden the clientele in the restaurant just hit the floor. Then there were all these people running on Exhibition Road towards the station. A large gathering of police turned up.” Oliver Cheshire, a model and the fiance of popstar Pixie Lott, was one of those who helped hold the man down after getting out of his Jaguar.
Another witness said: “We were walking near the Science Museum and heard a bang, bang ... At first I thought it was gunfire. Then we walked past the scene of the accident and saw a guy pinned down by other men and lots of people calling the police. He told the MailOnline the man was "screaming", adding: "I got out and grabbed him - three of us grabbed him - and someone phoned the police.
“There didn’t appear to be many people hurt – a few sat by the side of the road but more looking shaken than anything. "He was an Uber driver, according to the girls that were in his car. I have never seen anything like it."
“We were then ushered into the Science Museum and the area was quickly cleared of pedestrians.”A BBC reporter said she saw “a car diagonally across the road, looking like it was going into one of the boulders on the side of the road”. The current terror threat in the UK is at "severe" - the second highest level - meaning an attack is highly likely.
Police asked anyone with information to call 101.  And with London on edge after a string of recent terror attacks, people unaware of what was happening fled the scene. 
The Natural History Museum tweeted: “There’s been a serious incident outside the Museum. We are working w/ @metpoliceuk and will provide an update when we have more information.” Sophie Parry and Lesley Guinness said they saw people running away from the scene, after three "gunshot-like" bangs rang out a few seconds before a cyclist was struck by the car. 
The A4 Cromwell Road is closed in both directions between Thurloe Place and Queen’s Gate. Dieon Rurora, 25, who works in a nearby cafe, added: "People were running down the street, falling over. It was quite scary."
South Kensington tube station, initially barricaded by police, has re-opened. Colleague Merilin Mueller, 20, added: "It just seemed like an accident because there was a police car. We couldn't see outside.
"Then there were loads of police cars and that's when all of these police came marching down saying, 'move, move'.
"They said, 'you need to evacuate'."
Downing Street had said that Prime Minister Theresa May was being kept up to date with developments.
In a message later on Twitter, she said: "My thanks to the first responders at this incident this afternoon and the actions of members of the public. My thoughts are with the injured."
London Mayor Sadiq Khan also tweeted his thanks and hopes for a "swift recovery" for those injured.
"For Londoners and visitors planning to visit our excellent museums and attractions in the area, please be assured they will be open as usual tomorrow," he said. 
London’s  Metropolitan Police later said the incident thought to be a "road traffic collision" and a man in his 40s had been arrested at the scene. They added that it was not thought to be “terror related.”
He was arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving and received hospital treatment before being taken to a north London police station for questioning.