London: Britain’s Parliament went into lockdown on Wednesday as a police officer was stabbed and the alleged assailant shot, reportedly after ploughing down pedestrians on one of London’s busiest bridges.Here is what we know about what police are treating as a terrorist attack:
In quick succession at around 2:40 pm (1440 GMT) on Wednesday, media reported gunfire outside the Parliament and, separately, that several people had been injured in an incident on Westminster Bridge next to it, a busy traffic conduit that is also a popular tourist spot due to its views of parliament and its “Big Ben” clock tower.
David Lidington, a government minister who is the leader of the lower House of Commons, told the chamber that a police officer had been stabbed on the parliamentary estate and that armed police had shot the alleged attacker in response, adding that there had been “reports of further violent incidents in the vicinity”.
Unconfirmed media reports said the attacker mowed people down on the bridge in a car before veering towards the Parliament building and ramming the railings surrounding the grounds. He got out and attacked the police officer before he was shot. Reports said the attacker was carrying a large knife.
One woman was killed, according to medics cited by local media, and several suffered “catastrophic” injuries. Parliament was put on lockdown, with lawmakers and staff ordered to remain inside.
Downing Street said Prime Minister Theresa May was safe, and she was seen getting into a car and being driven away from the Parliament where she had been holding her weekly question-and-answer session a couple of hours earlier.
