Good Morning America report, at
least 1 person has died and 10 were injured when a van plowed into a
crowd gathered outside a London mosque after prayers just past midnight
on Monday.
London mayor Sadiq Khan said police were responding to a "horrific terrorist attack."
Prime Minister Theresa May called the attack "every bit as sickening as those that have come before."
"Evil
of this kind will never succeed," May said after an emergency meeting
at 10 Downing Street to coordinate the government's response.
The
Metropolitan Police called the incident a "terrorist attack" and said
an investigation was being carried out by the Counter Terrorism Command.
“This was an attack on London and all Londoners and we should all stand
together against extremists whatever their cause," said Neil Basu,
senior national coordinator for counter terrorism.
Some
witnesses said there were a total of three "attackers," but police said
they arrested a 48-year-old man at the scene on suspicion of attempted
murder and that no other suspects had been identified.
"From
what we are seeing and from what witnesses have reported to us there
was nobody else in the van and it appears at this time that this
attacker attacked alone," Basu said.
Two
people were treated at the scene and eight were transferred to three
London hospitals, according to London Ambulance Service Deputy Director
of Operations, Kevin Bate.
The incident happened in Finsbury Park in the north of London, in Seven Sisters Road, according to officials.
May will chair an emergency meeting on Monday morning to coordinate the government's response.
The Muslim Council of Britain called the incident a "terror attack" and the "most violent manifestation" of Islamophobia.
Eyewitnesses
interviewed by ABC News said people were gathered outside the mosque
after prayers tending to an old man who was having a heart attack when
the van drove into them. There were men, old men and women, no children.
Khan called it "a deliberate attack on innocent Londoners, many of whom were finishing prayers during the holy month of Ramadan.
"While
this appears to be an attack on a particular community, like the
terrible attacks in Manchester, Westminster and London Bridge it is also
an assault on all our shared values of tolerance, freedom and respect,"
Khan said in a statement.
A
man identified as Jermain Jackman told the BBC the sidewalks were
"packed with people walking home" when the incident occurred.
"It
was a van that mounted the pavement as men and women were leaving the
mosque to go home to their families and friends and their loved ones,"
Jackson said.
"During
the night, ordinary British citizens were set upon while they were
going about their lives, completing their night worship," the Muslim
Council said in a statement, adding that "Muslims have endured many
incidents of Islamophobia," over the past weeks and months.
"We
urge calm as the investigation establishes the full facts, and in these
last days of Ramadan, pray for those affected and for justice," the
statement concluded.
One person was in custody and the investigation was ongoing, police said.
Britain set its terror at "severe," meaning an attack is highly likely, after a pair of incidents recently.
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