London: Five people were killed and 40 others were injured outside the UK Parliament in London after an assailant plowed a car into pedestrians and stabbed a police officer, an incident that Metropolitan Police declared a terrorist incident.
One police officer and two pedestrians were among those killed during Wednesday’s attack on Westminster Bridge near the House of Parliament, said Scotland Yard’s top anti-terror officer Mark Rowley.
Rowley added that three police officers were among those injured, two of whom were in serious condition.
Britain’s Press Association reported that a car barreled into pedestrians along the sidewalk of Westminster Bridge, causing multiple “catastrophic injuries.”
Police said they assumed the assailant had been “inspired by international terrorism.”
Driving a large SUV, the assailant slammed into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge near Parliament, killing two people and injuring dozens, before crashing into a fence.
After the crash, the driver left the vehicle and approached Parliament, where he stabbed an armed police officer to death and was fatally shot by the police.
It appeared to be the most serious such assault in London since the deadly subway bombings in 2005.
No group or individual has so far assumed responsibility for the incident.
The Metropolitan Police said law enforcement personnel were called to the scene at around 2:40 pm, local time.
Police have arrested seven people in association with the attack and were investigating their possible ties to the assailant, who was identified as a reported Daesh sympathizer.
Daesh supporters on social media celebrated the deadly attack, with one user warning that “our battle on your land is only just beginning.”
The House of Commons session was suspended and members of parliament who were in the chamber were told to remain there.
UK Prime Minister Theresa May was rushed into a vehicle and spirited back to her office at 10 Downing Street.
She held a meeting of the government’s emergency committee and issued a statement on Wednesday night from her official residence condemning “the sick and depraved terrorist attack on the streets of our Capital this afternoon.”