Paramedics load a victim into the back of an ambulance as members of the emergency services work on Westminster Bridge, alongside the Houses of Parliament in central London yesterday, during an emergency incident.
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Three people were killed and 20 injured in a “terrorist” attack outside the British Parliament yesterday when a man mowed down pedestrians, then stabbed a police officer before being shot dead.
The car struck pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, a popular spot with tourists because of its views of Big Ben, before crashing into the railings outside the heavily guarded Parliament building in the heart of the British capital.
“At least one man, armed with a knife, continued the attack and tried to enter Parliament,” Britain’s top counter-terror official Mark Rowley told reporters.
Rowley said the three victims included the police officer and two people who died on the bridge.
“We are treating this as a terrorist incident,” police said in a statement.
The attack comes with Europe on high alert after a series of deadly assaults and a year to the day after Islamic State jihadists killed 32 people in two bomb attacks in Brussels.
Britain’s allies reacted with shock to yesterday’s attack and vowed to stand with London in the fight against terror.
In July 2005, four British suicide bombers inspired by Al-Qaeda attacked London’s transport system during rush hour, killing 52 people.
Prime Minister Theresa May, who was in Parliament at the time, was ushered away in a silver car as what sounded like gunfire rang out, British media reported.
Her Downing Street office said she was “safe” and was due later to chair an emergency meeting of top security ministers at her London residence.
“The thoughts of the prime minister and the Government are with those killed and injured in this appalling incident, and with their families,” a Downing Street spokeswoman said in a statement.
“The prime minister is being kept updated.”
Three French pupils on a school trip were among those injured and a seriously injured woman was rescued from the River Thames following the incident.
Five South Korean tourists were also hurt, the
Yonhap news agency reported.
A doctor at nearby St Thomas’ Hospital said they were treating people with “catastrophic” injuries.
The Parliament building was immediately sealed off and MPs and staff ordered to remain inside.
Hundreds of people were later evacuated from Parliament to nearby Westminster Abbey and the London Metropolitan Police headquarters, while the local Westminster Underground station was closed.
Police cordoned off a large area in Westminster and tourists on the London Eye, a popular tourist attraction, were stuck 135 metres (443 feet) in the air during the incident.
“I saw three bodies lying on the ground and a whole lot of police. It was pretty terrifying,” said Jack Hutchinson, 16, from Boston in the United States, who was stranded on the London Eye with his parents.
In Edinburgh, Scotland’s Parliament suspended a crucial debate and vote on whether to hold a new referendum on independence, a move that has caused a headache for May as she plans Britain’s exit from the European Union.
British lawmaker Mary Creagh told
AFP there was “a real sense of panic” as the attack unfolded.
Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron said: “There’s a lot of people who feel very, very shaken up.”
US President Donald Trump said he had been briefed on the incident, describing it as “big news” and French President Francois Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed their condolences.
Meanwhile, a staff member in Parliament, who did not want to be named, told
AFP: “I saw someone in dark clothing go down.”
Jason Groves, the
Daily Mail newspaper’s political editor, said he witnessed a man coming through the vehicle entrance wielding something, heading towards a police officer, who then fell to the ground.
Another officer then shot the man from around 10 metres away “with a handgun, and then gets closer to him and shoots him again from over him and he doesn’t get up,” he said.
Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood, whose brother Jonathan was killed in the 2002 Bali bombing, was pictured with his face smeared with blood helping to give first aid to an injured police officer.