At least two people are dead and another four injured in London after a van plowed into pedestrians on busy London Bridge late Saturday night.
Hundreds of people are evacuated from #LondonBridge after unconfirmed accident brings more than 15 police cars and helicopters come to scene pic.twitter.com/IfQLMOXsR0
— Kaine Pieri (@PieriKaine) June 3, 2017
According to reports, police are responding to two other incidents at Borough Market and in the Vauxhall area.
UPDATE: London police say incident at Vauxhall is not connected to the London Bridge or Borough Market incidents https://t.co/v3yOgFIeBE
— CNN (@CNN) June 4, 2017
via NYDN:
British Prime Minister Theresa May called the events a “potential act of terrorism.”
More than a dozen people were run over by a delivery van on the London Bridge, police said, meanwhile there were reports of stabbings and shots fired at Borough Market.
Police were also investigating an incident in the Vauxhall area, about a 15 minute drive, or 40 minute walk from Borough Market. Armed officers responded to the three scenes.
Police reported multiple fatalities at the south side of the London Bridge, BBC reported, and are searching for three suspects with 12-inch-long blades.
“A van came from London Bridge itself, went between the traffic light system and rammed it towards the steps. It knocked loads of people down. Then three men got out with long blades, 12-inches-long, and went randomly along Borough High Street stabbing people at random,” a taxi driver told LBC Radio.
Police vehicles, including helicopters and boats flocked to the scene.
The chaos erupted on the heels of an ISIS attack at Manchester Arena during an Ariana Grande concert, with many afraid that Saturday’s incident was yet another terror attack.
The mayhem broke out just one day before Grande is scheduled to perform a benefit concert for the victims of the Manchester attack.
One man was seen walking away from the London Bridge scene in handcuffs.
Metropolitan Police confirmed they were dealing with the three incidents.
A BBCreporter who was also an eyewitness said she saw a van swerve off the road into a crowd of pedestrians, The Guardian reported.
“A white van driver came speeding – probably about 50mph – veered off the road into the crowds of people who were walking along the pavement,” Holly Jones said.
“He swerved right round me and then hit about five or six people. He hit about two people in front of me and then three behind,” she said.
Jones said paramedics tended to a handful of badly injured victims.
Witness Mark Roberts told CNN that he was on the bridge when the delivery vehicle came barreling down the roadway. The van slammed into several people, knocking one person about 20 feet into the air, he said.
It swerved into oncoming traffic before hitting a bus stop and coming to a stop, Roberts said.
“Within my line of sight, there were five or six people on the ground that were not moving,” he said. “It looked to me that the van was aiming at the people.”
Moments later, Roberts said he heard what sounded like gunshots.
Another witness, Will Heaven, said he saw people who appeared to have been hit, and one being put into an ambulance. “We saw injured people on the road, injured people on the pavement,” he told Sky News.
They urged pedestrians to run to places of safety and not to surrender or negotiate. Police also told people to turn their phones to silent and to turn off vibrating mode. “Barricade yourself in if you can,” police said on Twitter.
Videos posted to social media showed panicked Londoners fleeing bars and nightclubs in the area.
In March, an ISIS-affiliated driver plowed into pedestrians on the Westminster Bridge before stabbing a cop to death. The driver, Khalid Masood, 52, was gunned down by officers.
On May 22, 22 were killed and 116 more were injured in a Manchester arena bombing during an Ariana Grande concert. ISIS claimed responsiblity for the attack.
President Donald Trump used the occasion of the attacks to promote his proposed travel ban targeting six majority-Muslim countries.
“We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety!” he tweeted shortly after news of the attacks broke.
Pray for London.
https://twitter.com/Yatesy17/status/871125987613978624
#Londonbridge #boroughmarket #vauxhall pic.twitter.com/a7OciBEBjH
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) June 3, 2017
First responders leave nearby police station following incident on London Bridge https://t.co/mEAnWYJe8s pic.twitter.com/HpUV9h3hY2
— ABC News (@ABC) June 3, 2017
