Car hits pedestrians outside UK Parliament in terror attack
Two injured; London police arrest driver, treating incident as terror; witnesses say crash appears to have been deliberate
LONDON — A motorist slammed into pedestrians and cyclists near Britain’s Houses of Parliament on Tuesday in a suspected terror attack.
A man in his 20s was arrested on suspicion of terrorist offenses after the silver Ford Fiesta he was driving collided with rush-hour commuters before slamming into a barrier.
“At this stage, we are treating this as a terrorist incident,” said Scotland Yard, adding that none of the injuries are believed to be “life-threatening.”
Armed police swooped into the area, cordoning off streets surrounding the heart of Britain’s government.
Police appealed to the public to stay away, and the Westminster subway station was closed.
Video of the male driver arrested after a car crashed into security barriers outside Parliament in Westminster.
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Later images showed police holding the driver, dressed in jeans and a black puffer jacket, in handcuffs as roads around parliament were sealed off.
“The driver of the car, a man in his late 20s… was arrested on suspicion of terrorist offences,” said police.
“There was nobody else in the vehicle, which remains at the scene and is being searched. No weapons have been recovered at this stage.”
Police have yet to identify the suspect, who was not cooperating with detectives, according to Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu.
Government officials will hold a meeting of the emergency Cobra committee at 2.00 pm.
‘Looked intentional’
Witness Ewalina Ochab told the Press Association that the incident “looked intentional.”
“I was walking on the other side. I heard some noise and someone screamed,” she said. “I turned around and I saw a silver car driving very fast close to the railings, maybe even on the pavement. I think it looked intentional — the car drove at speed and towards the barriers.”
Jason Williams also saw a car moving at high speed.
“It looked deliberate. It didn’t look like an accident,” he said. “How do you do that by accident? It was a loud bang.”
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said “all Londoners, like me, utterly condemn all acts of terrorism on our city.
“The response of Londoners today shows that we will never be cowed, intimidated or divided by any terrorist attack,” he said.
The incident heightened tensions in a city that has seen four vehicle-based terror attacks in less than 18 months.
Westminster was the scene of a terror attack last year, when Khalid Masood, a 52-year-old British convert to Islam, drove a car at pedestrians on a bridge over the River Thames, before fatally stabbing a policeman on guard outside parliament.
The attack left five people dead and around 50 injured, and only ended when police shot Masood dead.
