At least four people are dead and 20 more injured after a suspected terrorist attack outside Britain’s Houses of Parliament.
A gray or silver SUV drove through a crowd across Britain’s Westminster Bridge, injuring several people, then crashed through the gate to Westminster Palace, where Parliament meets.
A man with a knife got out of the car and ran toward Parliament, where he attacked a police officer.
There are reports that the attacker was shot.
Witnesses report hearing gunshots, though the authorities refuse to give out any details at this time.
One woman jumped or was thrown off Westminster Bridge and was later pulled from the Thames. She was severely injured.
Currently it is not clear if there were one or several attacks. Police are still investigating.
Scotland Yard Commander B.J. Harrington, made this statement:
“Since 2:40 this afternoon the MPS has responded to an incident in the area of Parliament Square and the senior national co-ordinator had declared this a terrorist incident, and although we remain open-minded to the motive, a full counterterrorism investigation is already under way. This is led by the Met counter-terrorism command.
“At this stage I will confirm what we know has happened but I will not speculate. We received a number of different reports, which included a person in the river, a car in collision with pedestrians, and a man armed with a knife.
“Officers were already in that location as part of routine policing, but immediately additional officers were sent to the scene and that included firearms officers. We are working closely with the London Ambulance Service and the London Fire Brigade.
“We know there are a number of casualties including police officers but at this stage we cannot confirm numbers or the nature of these injuries.”
(Reuters)
