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U.K

London attack: What we know so far

Source: BBC News:
March 22, 2017 at 14:58

Four people have died and 20 people have been injured after what police are treating as terrorist attacks in Westminster, earlier on Wednesday. Here is what we know so far.

At 14.40 (GMT) the Metropolitan Police were called in an incident around Parliament Square in central London.

Reports made to the police included a person in the river, a car hitting pedestrians and a man armed with a knife.

Witnesses saw a car drive across Westminster Bridge and hit a number of pedestrians walking on the pavement.

These included three police officers who were walking across the bridge on their way back from a commendation ceremony.

A group of French schoolchildren were also on the bridge and three were injured in the incident.

French Prime Minister Bernard Cazeneuve tweeted his support to the British as well as to "the French students wounded, their families and their schoolmates".

The car then crashed into railings outside the Houses of Parliament.

Acting Deputy Commissioner for the Metropolitan Police Mark Rowley said two people had died after the incident on the bridge and 20 people had been injured.

The London Ambulance Service earlier said it had treated at least 10 people from the incident.

Emergency services on Westminster Bridge
REUTERS
Emergency services on Westminster Bridge.
 

Shortly after the incident on the bridge, a police officer was stabbed in the grounds of the Houses of Parliament. The attacker was then shot.

The BBC has been told that an MP gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation for 15 minutes "but sadly the officer died".

Acting Deputy Commissioner Rowley confirmed the armed officer had died, as well as a man they believed to be the attacker.

He told a press conference he believed there to be only one attacker, but searches were ongoing.

Parliament has been suspended for the rest of the day and politicians, journalists and visitors to the buildings were locked in for about two hours.

Just after 17:00 GMT, a woman was pulled from the River Thames alive, but with injuries.

Houses of Parliament
GETTY IMAGES
The Houses of Parliament were in lockdown.
 

Commander BJ Harrington of the Metropolitan Police, the senior national co-ordinator at the Met, has declared the events as terrorist incidents.

Prime Minister Theresa May is to chair a meeting of the government's emergency Cobra committee later.

Both the House of Commons and the House of Lords will sit tomorrow at their normal times.

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