POLICE in London have confirmed they are treating an incident in Westminster in which a car collided with a number of people as a terrorist attack.
A man has been arrested while two people have been taken to hospital, although their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
“At this stage, we are treating this as a terrorist incident and the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command is now leading the investigation,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
Meanwhile Mayor Sadiq Khan said Londoners would not be ‘cowed, intimidated or divided’ by terrorists.
Arrest
The incident happened at 7.37 this morning, when a silver Ford Fiesta collided with a number of cyclists and pedestrians before crashing into barriers outside the Houses of Parliament.
The driver of the car, a man in his late 20s, was arrested at the scene by armed officers on suspicion of terrorist offences.
He has been taken to a south London police station where he remains in police custody.
olice officers guard the approach to Parliament Square (Image:Leon Neal / Getty Images)There was nobody else in the vehicle and no weapons have been recovered at this stage.
The London Ambulance Service revealed it treated three patients at the scene, two of whom were taken to hospital.
Officers remain at the scene and are continuing to search the vehicle, while cordons are in place to assist the investigation.
Road closures in the area are likely to remain in place for some time. Westminster Tube station is currently closed.
In a statement, Mayor Khan said his thoughts were with the injured.
“All Londoners, like me, utterly condemn all acts of terrorism on our city,” he said.
Police officers secure the roads around the Houses of Parliament (Image: Leon Neal / Getty Images)“The response of Londoners today shows that we will never be cowed, intimidated or divided by any terrorist attack.”
He added: “My heartfelt thanks goes to the brave first responders who were so quickly on the scene following the attack.”
Appeal
The Met have revealed extra officers – both armed and unarmed – have been deployed on the streets in and around central London.
The force has appealed for anyone with footage or images of the incident to send them to investigators at www.ukpoliceimageappeal.co.uk
Anyone with information that could assist the investigation is asked to contact 0800 789 321.
The public have been asked to remain vigilant and dial 999 immediately if they see anything suspicious that causes concern.
