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London Bridge Shut Down After Pedestrians Struck; Stabbings Reported in Nearby Market London Bridge Shut Down After Pedestrians Struck; Stabbings Reported in Nearby Market
(35 minutes later)
LONDON — Attacks on civilians in two locations near the Thames River on Saturday night sent armed London police officers to each site. LONDON — Britain suffered what authorities called another act of terrorism on Saturday night, with two attacks on civilians in the center of the capital.
Theresa May, the British prime minister, said the authorities were treating the attacks “as a potential act of terrorism,” and the London police declared the attacks as “terrorist incidents” a short time later. At least one person was killed and many injured when a van careened onto the sidewalk along London Bridge, mowing down pedestrians.
Authorities closed London Bridge after a white van mounted the sidewalk and mowed down pedestrians a little after 10 p.m., according to multiple witnesses on the bridge. Witnesses reported that at least one man jumped out of the van wielding a large knife and ran into the nearby Borough Market, a popular spot for pubs and restaurants on the southern side of the Thames.
The police said there were casualties there, with more than one person dead, and witnesses reported seeing a bearded man with a large knife. Heavily armed police responded to the bridge attack, which took place a little after 10 p.m. and then more officers rushed to investigate reports of stabbings at the market. Police fired shots there, and three suspects were described as wearing canisters around their chests. There were reports that at least one of them had been killed.
Soon after, there were reports of knife attacks at nearby Borough Market, a popular spot for pubs and restaurants on the southern side of the Thames. The police said that “armed officers responded and shots were fired.” Though no one has yet claimed credit for the attacks, they hit a nation still reeling from the shock of the bombing in Manchester almost two weeks ago when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside the doors of an Ariana Grande concert. Twenty-two people were killed, including many children.
Police advised people in each area to run to a place of safety, hide, silence their telephones and call the police when they could. Saturday’s attack was closely reminiscent of another on March 22 on Westminster Bridge, when Khalid Masood, 52, drove a car into pedestrians, killing four people, including stabbing a police officer to death, before being shot and killed near Parliament. The police treated that attack, in which 50 were injured, as “Islamist-related terrorism.”
A third incident, at Vauxhall, which was also a stabbing, was not connected to London Bridge or Borough Market, the police said. And now, as Britain prepares for national elections in less than a week, more attacks in the most ordinary of places, London Bridge on a Saturday night, as people walked about enjoying the spring evening.
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, condemned the attack, saying “There is no justification whatsoever for such barbaric acts.” And Downing Street announced that Mrs. May would chair a meeting of the government emergency response committee, known as Cobra, on Sunday. Channels supporting the Islamic State had urged attacks on Western societies with vehicles, guns and knives during the month of Ramadan and on Saturday night, some cheered these attacks.
Holly Jones, a BBC reporter who was on the bridge at the time of the incident, said the van was driven by a man and was “probably traveling at about 50 miles an hour.” She said that at least five people were being treated for injuries after the vehicle drove on the sidewalk and hit them. The mood in London Saturday night was shock and anger, with the center of the city saturated all night with the sound of sirens. People were told to hide and put their mobile phones on silent as police searched for assailants.
There was panic that a third stabbing in the Vauxhall area at around the same time as the assaults near the bridge might have been part of a coordinated attack, although police later declared that incident unrelated.
The attacks came just a few days before a snap election that has major implications for the country’s future outside the European Union. Across London, and Britain, there was a sense of fear that a way of life was under attack, but also a determination to carry on.
Saturday night, ambulances rushed to the scene, people fled in panic, restaurants and hotels were evacuated and helicopters flew overhead. Witnesses described horrible scenes.
Holly Jones, a BBC reporter who was on the bridge at the time, said the van was driven by a man and was “probably traveling at about 50 miles an hour.” She said that at least five people were being treated for injuries after the vehicle drove on the sidewalk and hit them a little after 10 p.m.
“He swerved right round me and then hit about five or six people,” Ms. Jones said. “He hit about two people in front of me and then three behind.”“He swerved right round me and then hit about five or six people,” Ms. Jones said. “He hit about two people in front of me and then three behind.”
Police and ambulance workers responded rapidly, evacuating pedestrians and shutting down the London Bridge subway station. Ms. Jones later said that she saw a man being arrested by the police. A witness, who identified his name only as Andrew, said he was in the area at a bar and heard “a massive bang” and saw a van of some sort hitting the rail of the road.
The police also sent armed officers to Borough Market, where witnesses reported stabbings.
A witness, who identified himself only as Andrew, said he was in the area at a bar, heard “a massive bang” and saw a van hitting a railing.
“Next 10 seconds later, there was a guy with a big knife, I mean, a big knife,” he told LBC Radio.“Next 10 seconds later, there was a guy with a big knife, I mean, a big knife,” he told LBC Radio.
Andrew jumped over a fence, got to a footpath and said there was “a dead guy lying on the floor.” He hid for a few seconds in bushes nearby, then, he said, “I ran for my life.” He jumped over a fence, got to a footpath and there was “a dead guy lying on the floor.” Andrew hid for a few seconds in bushes nearby, then, he said, “I ran for my life.”
Mark Roberts, who said he was on London Bridge at the time, told CNN that the van was traveling south across the bridge toward the London Bridge station. At the market, Ben, whose last name was not given, told the BBC that he and his wife Natalie saw someone being stabbed.
The van was speeding and swerving, Mr. Roberts said. “I saw a man in red with quite a large blade, I don’t know the measurement I guess maybe 10 inches,” Ben said. “He was stabbing a man,” he said. “He stabbed him about three times fairly calmly.” The witness added: “He was being stabbed quite coldly and he slumped to the ground.”
“I was just lucky it swerved across the other side,” he said. “It looked to me that the van was aiming for the people.” He then said someone threw a table and a bottle at the man with the knife, but “then we heard three gunshots and we ran.”
Mr. Roberts said that the van hit several people on the bridge and that about 10 minutes later he heard what sounded like 10 to 20 gunshots. The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, called the incidents a “deliberate and cowardly attack on innocent Londoners,” and they were also condemned by the leader of the main opposition party, Jeremy Corbyn.
After the Manchester bombing on May 22, when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the end of a concert by Ariana Grande, killing 22 and wounding dozens, the threat level in Britain was raised to critical, indicating that a terrorist attack was highly likely. But the threat level was reduced to severe several days later. Lorna Murray, 44, said that she was about to drive over London bridge when traffic stopped and people ran toward their car. “We ducked down in our car, assuming there was a stabbing,” she said. “Then this young couple started banging on the doors trying to get in to our car for safety. We took them in, but couldn’t let anyone else in because we had a baby in the back.”
On March 22 an attack on Westminster Bridge was treated by the police as “Islamist-related terrorism.” Khalid Masood, 52, drove a car into pedestrians, killing four people and injuring 50. He stabbed a police officer to death before being shot and killed near Parliament. Police told everyone to leave their cars and get away. “When I got out the car everything was a blur but I saw a woman with blood all over her face,” she said.
Tim Hodge, 37, a security officer at a nearby office building on the south side of the bridge, described “huge crowds” running past, screaming. “There was so much panic and so many of the people were drunk which made them more hysterical.”
Alex Shellum was in the Mudlark pub with his girlfriend and two friends, underneath London Bridge, at the time of the incident. He described an injured woman coming into the pub. “She was bleeding heavily from the neck — it appeared that her throat had been cut,” he told the BBC.