London Terror Attack: Here’s What We Know So Far

0
1157

London suffered a terror attack on Wednesday that left one dead near Parliament, multiple people injured and a police officer stabbed.

In a reconstruction of the timeline, it appeared that a vehicle traveled down Westminster Bridge, drove into the fence outside Parliament and a man then ran through the gate and through security where he wielded a knife, attacked a police officer and was shot. The Press Association reported one woman has died and described other injuries as “catastrophic.”

The Metropolitan Police said at 3:31 p.m., an hour after the attacks were reported, that they are treating it as a “terrorist incident until we know otherwise.”

Images aired by Sky News and the BBC showed people on the bridge and on the sidewalk near Parliament lying on the ground being treated by medical staff. At least four people and as many as 12 were injured, according to eyewitness reports, while video footage showed a crashed car nearby.

It’s been a year since the worst terror attack in Belgium’s history, in which 32 people were killed and hundreds more were wounded at the Brussels airport and Maalbeek metro station, and one day after the U.K. joined the U.S. in unveiling new security measures banning laptops and iPads from flights from certain Middle Eastern countries.

One of the people on the ground was shot by a plain-clothes police officer, according to a witness account. The entire Parliament complex was put into lockdown. The pound dipped briefly on the news and is now little changed at $1.25.

The Metropolitan Police said on its official Twitter account that it was called at about 2:40 p.m. to reports of an incident at Westminster Bridge. It initially described it as a “firearms” incident.

At the lower house of Parliament, Leader of the House David Lidington said: “What I’m able to say to the house is that there has been a serious incident within the estate. It seems a police officer has been stabbed, that the assailant was shot by armed police.”

Prime Minister Theresa May was seen being ushered into a silver Jaguar car as what sounded like gunfire rang out at Parliament during the incident, PA reported. May’s office confirmed she was safe, without giving further details. Her scheduled meeting Wednesday night in London with Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel was cancelled.

Police warned people to avoid the areas around Westminster including Whitehall — where the government departments reside — Westminster Bridge, Lambeth Bridge, Victoria Street up to the junction with Broadway and the Victoria Embankment up to Embankment tube.

(c) 2017, Bloomberg ยท Robert Hutton, Thomas Penny

Facebook Comments