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Three injured in hit-and-run outside London mosque Hit-and-run outside London mosque investigated as hate crime
(about 1 hour later)
Three people have been injured in a hit-and-run incident outside a mosque in north-west London, in what police said may have been a hate crime. Three people have been injured after a car ploughed into a crowd outside a north London Islamic centre, in an incident that is being treated as a hate crime.
Three men and a woman, all in their mid-20s, allegedly shouted Islamophobic abuse outside the centre in Brent before the car they were in hit three men at speed and left the scene, the Metropolitan police said. The incident took place at Al-Majlis Al-Hussaini centre at the junction of Oxgate Lane and Edgware Road in Brent, which had been hosting a religious event.
A man in his 50s remains in hospital receiving treatment for a serious leg injury, and two men in their 20s sustained minor injuries, the police said. Simon Rose, the local police commander, said that at 12.30am voluntary stewards and members of the security team challenged a group of people who were in a car park around the corner from the centre. The volunteers and stewards were allegedly subjected to Islamophobic and racist abuse and there was an altercation.
Terrorism has been ruled out but the force said the alleged hate crime aspect of the collision was “being looked at by detectives as an aggravating factor”. “The people who had been challenged then drove at members of the community in a car,” Rose said. “The car mounted the pavement twice and two people have been seriously hurt. Their injuries at this time are not believed to be life-threatening.”
A spokesman for the Hussaini Association, which had organised a lecture at the mosque, said that the collision was “a suspected premeditated Islamophobic attack”. He added: “It’s being dealt with as an Islamophobic hate crime. It is not at this time being dealt with as a terrorism incident, although that is as always subject to continuous review.”
In a statement posted on social media, the association said a red Nissan Juke “swerved into innocent bystanders, hitting at least five people of which three were seriously injured”. There have been no arrests and police are hunting for the car and its occupants.
It said: “They were heard shouting anti-Islamic taunts at the crowd before they started their attack. Fortunately, a number of volunteers bravely stood between the speeding vehicle and patrons heading home. These acts of bravery potentially saved the lives of dozens of innocent people.” A witness said the car mounted the pavement several times before ploughing into the crowd in what he believed to be a deliberate attempt to hurt or kill people wearing Islamic dress.
A witness said a car drove on to the pavement multiple times before ploughing into people in a deliberate attempt to hurt or kill people wearing Islamic dress. Ali Mashkour, 33, who was helping with security at the event, said he saw one person flung 10ft into the air by the car and then dragged underneath it.
Ali Mashkour, 33, was helping with security at the event. He told the Guardian of scenes of horror during an attack that lasted about 20 seconds with the maroon vehicle driving on to and off the pavement three times. He said he saw one victim flung 10 feet into the air by the car and then dragged underneath it, and how he was terrified for his own life and those of others. “I heard glass breaking and the revving of an engine and the screeching of tyres. It was driving quite fast, around 30mph,” said Mashkour, a former special constable with the Metropolitan police. “It was in the middle of the road, then turned to come on to the pavement … There was a crowd. It turned right, on to the pavement where I was standing.”
Mashkour, a former special constable in the Met police, said the event finished just after midnight and he went outside: “I heard glass breaking and the revving of an engine and the screeching of tyres. The car came from a slip road where there was a car park. I was on Oxgate Lane. I saw the vehicle turn into Oxgate Lane. It was driving quite fast, around 30 miles per hour. It was in the middle of the road, then turned to come on to the pavement. Mashkour said he was at first in shock and then noticed a child at his side. “I grabbed him and threw him across the pavement, to get him out the way, and then I jumped,” he said. “If I did not move him and then myself, the kid would have been hit.”
“There was a crowd. It turned right, on to the pavement where I was standing. At first I was in shock. There was a child on my right-hand side, about eight years old. I grabbed him and threw him across the pavement, to get hm out the way, and then I jumped.” He said most if not all people in the immediate area were wearing Islamic clothing. “No one else was walking there apart from people from the Islamic community, dressed in black and women wearing scarves covering their head.”
Mashkour said: “If I did not move him [the child] and then myself the kid would have been hit. I jumped out of the way and shouted [to other] ‘get out of the way’. Another witness, Ali Salman, 33, said: “We heard loud sounds, a car skidding around.” He pushed his friend out of the way as the car came “full force at us”. “If I didn’t react without thinking, we would have been dead.”
“A man was behind me, in his 50s. The vehicle hit him, and he flew up into the air, above the height of the car, and then was dragged by the car, about four to five metres. He was lifted above the car.” He said there were around 100 people standing by the road. “He was taking them out like dominos,” he said.
Mashkour said the car then drove back on the road, then drove on to the pavement 20 to 30 metres away, and then did so again. He added: “I never thought I would freeze [in such a situation]. If I had not moved or moved the child, we would have been the first victims. Salman was frustrated that media coverage of the attack did not describe it as terrorist incident. “Why are we scared to say terrorists when [the victims are] Muslims?” he asked. “100% this is a terrorist attack.”
“At first I thought the driver was unwell. when he did it multiple times I thought it was an attack. He mounted the curb multiple times to try and hurt or kill people. I don’t know if that’s terrorist, but it is definitely a hate crime.” Mustafa Balaghi al-Balaghi, a spokesperson for Al-Hussaini centre, called for the community to remain calm and tolerant.
The occupants of the car had been seen drinking and allegedly using drugs in a private car park near the community centre and had been asked to leave by security, police said. The car approached the centre where a confrontation broke out and some of those outside the centre caused minor damage to the car. The car then made off at speed. Muhammed Butt, the leader of Brent council, said: “We absolutely denounce any activities that divide the communities of Brent. What happened last night is a travesty, it’s a tragedy.
DS Kelly Schonhage, of the Met, said: “We are treating this incident very seriously and a number of inquiries are under way to trace the car and those involved. Inquiries into the full circumstances of the collision are ongoing.” “We have made it absolutely crystal clear in Brent that we are a community that works together, is one community. We will not tolerate any forms of division in Brent. We want to make that clear we stand united as one.”
Members of the community centre appeared unperturbed by the incident on Wednesday. In the women’s section of Al-Hussaini centre, tea, coffee and snacks were being served to those attending the morning service.
A woman who did not wish to give her name said simply: “We are not afraid.”
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