Police in London have arrested a man in his late 20s on suspicion of terrorist offenses after the car he was driving collided with cyclists and pedestrians close to the Houses of Parliament this morning.
There were no fatalities, but a number of people were injured. The investigation into the incident, which occurred at 7:37am local time in the London borough of Westminster, is being led by the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command. “At this stage, we are treating this as a terrorist incident,” police said in a statement.
The BBC reported that eyewitnesses said a silver Ford Fiesta driven by the man appeared to deliberately hit people on the road and sidewalk as it swerved from lane to lane.
The suspect was arrested at the scene by armed police, and was taken to a south London police station, where he is currently being held. The wounded have been taken to hospital, and none are thought to face life-threatening injuries.
Westminster Tube station was closed shortly after the incident and streets in the area cordoned off.
“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 said.
In March 2017, five people were killed and 50 were injured in a terrorist attack when a driver rammed pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before crashing his car into a barrier outside of Parliament and getting out of the vehicle to stab a police officer just inside the grounds. The attacker was fatally shot by police.