{UAH} Westminster terror attack: Driver arrested after car ploughs into Parliament barrier 'not known to MI5' - latest
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Westminster terror attack: Driver arrested after car ploughs into Parliament barrier 'not known to MI5' - latest
A terror suspect arrested after a car crashed into a barrier at the Houses of Parliament at high speed is not believed to be known to the security services, police have said.
At least three people were injured when the silver Ford Fiesta hit a group of cyclists and pedestrians waiting for traffic lights to change. Witnesses said the car mounted the pavement on the wrong side of the road at up to 50mph and travelled around 40 metres (130ft) before hitting a bollard.
Westminster was in lockdown as armed police swarmed the scene on Tuesday morning. One witness said: "It looked intentional - the car drove at speed and towards the barriers."
Scotland Yard said a man in his late 20s was arrested after the incident at around 7.30am. The suspect was taken to a south London police station, where he remains on suspicion of terrorism offences. He is not co-operating with officers.
The Met's counter-terrorism command is leading the investigation. Officers are seeking to formally identify the suspect, but "don't believe this person is known to either MI5 or counter terrorism police".
Images showed a man being led away from the vehicle in handcuffs after armed police surrounded the car.
A second image appears to show pedestrians hit by the vehicle at least 40 metres (130ft) away from where the car hit the barrier.
No one else was in the vehicle and police said no weapons had been recovered from the scene.
Speaking outside New Scotland Yard, Neil Basu, the Met's Assistant Commissioner for counter-terrorism, said police and the intelligence services were working to establish if the suspect was part of a wider terror cell and whether he had received assistance from others in planning the attack.
Mr Basu said: "It appears to have been a deliberate act, but what the motive was we can't answer at the moment. We haven't formally identified the suspect, but we don't believe he's known to MI5."
He added that the attacker was not been pursued by police before he struck the entrance to the Palace of Westminster and that the blue lights seen behind him in footage of the incident were those of an ambulance coincidentally answering a separate emergency call.
Witness Barry Williams said the car had accelerated towards the barrier after hitting the cyclists.
"I turned round to see a silver car heading towards the cyclists on the wrong side of the road, they were parked waiting for the lights to change," he told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme. "He hit the cyclists then swerved over towards where the safety barrier is.... and accelerated and hit it at quite a high speed.
"I wasn't sure whether he meant to hit the cyclists, they might have just been in the way, but once he did, he accelerated towards the barrier.
He added: "The police were very fast, they vaulted over the safety barrier and headed towards the car.
"What also happened was the police started to head away to block off people heading towards us. The cyclists...there was a few on the ground, some were holding their arms, there was bikes everywhere. It was frightening."
Mr Williams added: "There was about 10 cyclists waiting for the lights to change... he hit about four or five - one of the cyclists got up and was about to chase the car."
Aerial footage of the crash shows the silver Ford Fiesta coming along the road next to Parliament Square before moving to turn right towards Westminster Abbey.
As an ambulance passes the car on its right-hand side, the vehicle swerves left - crossing oncoming traffic and a pavement before entering a small road and crashing into a security barrier.
A police officer can be seen jumping another barrier that runs along the side of the road to get away.
Parliament Square was evacuated as a large number of police cars descended on the heart of Westminster, which has seen heightened security since the Westminster Bridge attack in March 2017.
Streets around Parliament Square, Millbank and Victoria Tower Gardens were also cordoned off as dozens of armed police swooped on the scene.
A series of ambulances had been sent to the scene and the London Ambulance Service said two people were treated for injuries that are not thought to be serious and taken to hospital. A third person was assessed for minor injuries at the scene.
'It looked deliberate... he hit bollard at 50mph'
Local businessman Jason Williams was walking to work when he saw the crash unfold.
The 45-year-old, from Kennington, south London, said: "He had driven it at speed - more than 40 mph. There was smoke coming out of the car."
He told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "I have seen people on the ground, lying on the road. I don't know if they have actually been hit by the vehicle or not. I saw at least 10 people lying down.
"I was told basically to move away, to run. I have run for my life."
Mr Williams told Good Morning Britain: "I saw a car going at high speed towards Parliament. It hit a bollard."
He added: "It looked deliberate. It didn't look like an accident. How do you do that by accident? It was a loud bang."
Mr Williams added: "He's obviously gone into the bollard at high speed.
"It seemed it was about 40-50mph, there wasn't any shouting or anything - I've seen smoke coming from the vehicle.
"He did get out [of the car], I was behind and I did hear a loud bang and I'm seeing what's going on, but I couldn't hear if the police asked him to get out. The specialists came soon after, I'd say within 5-9 minutes."
He said the suspect was quiet when he was taken away by the police.
Metropolitan Police statement as man arrested
The man arrested over the Westminster car crash is in his 20s and is being held on suspicion of terrorist offences, Scotland Yard said.
It said in a statement: "At 07:37hrs on Tuesday 14 August, a silver Ford Fiesta collided with a number of cyclists and pedestrians, before crashing into barriers outside the Houses of Parliament.
"The driver of the car, a man in his late 20s, was arrested at the scene by armed officers. He has been taken to a south London police station where he remains in police custody.
"He was arrested on suspicion of terrorist offences.
"There was nobody else in the vehicle, which remains at the scene and is being searched. No weapons have been recovered at this stage."
The force spokesman added: "At this stage, we are treating this as a terrorist incident and the Met's Counter Terrorism Command is now leading the investigation."
Ambulance service: Three injured people treated
Two people were treated at the scene in Westminster for injuries that are not thought to be serious, London Ambulance Service said. A third person was assessed for minor injuries but not taken to hospital.
Assistant Director of Operations Peter Rhodes said: "We were called at 7.40am today (14 August) to reports of an incident on St Margaret Street, SW1.
"We sent a number of resources to the scene including three ambulance crews, responders in cars and an incident response officer.
"We have treated two people at the scene for injuries that are not believed to be serious and have taken them to hospital."
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