Man held for terrorism after driving into
UK parliament barriers
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[August 14, 2018]
By Kylie MacLellan and Hannah McKay
LONDON (Reuters) - Police arrested a man on
suspicion of terrorism offences on Tuesday saying he appeared to
deliberately drive into cyclists before ramming a car into security
barriers outside the British parliament in what appeared to be the
second attack on the building in just under 18 months.
The man, in his 20s, injured three people as he drove through a group of
cyclists and pedestrians before hitting a barrier outside parliament
during the early morning rush hour.
"Given that this appears to be a deliberate act, the method, and this
being an iconic site, we are treating it as a terrorist incident,"
London Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said.
Basu said the man was not co-operating with police. He was not believed
to be known to security forces, he said.
None of the injuries were life-threatening, officials said.
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Police said a silver Ford Fiesta collided with a number of cyclists and
pedestrians before crashing into barriers outside the Houses of
Parliament at 0637 GMT.
"The driver of the car, a man in his late 20s, was arrested at the scene
by armed officers," police said in a statement. "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."
In March 2017, Khalid Masood, 52, killed four people on nearby
Westminster Bridge before he stabbed to death an unarmed police officer
in the grounds of parliament. He was shot dead at the scene. It was the
first of five attacks on Britain last year which police blamed on
terrorism.
London's Ambulance Service said it had treated two people at the scene
on Tuesday and they had been taken to hospital. A third person with
minor injuries was assessed at the scene.
Armed police swarmed the scene and cordoned off a large area around the
parliament in central London, usually bustling with tourists and
government workers.
"It's a very serious incident," witness Jason Williams told reporters.
"There was smoke coming from the vehicle."
Camera footage showed the vehicle taking a wrong turn into a group of
cyclists waiting at a traffic light before veering across the road and
into a lane used for accessing parliament where it struck a barrier and
came to a halt.
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![](../images/081418pics/news_k17.jpg)
A car that crashed outside the Houses of Parliament is surrounded by
members of the emergency services in Westminster, London, Britain,
August 14, 2018. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
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Government security officials were due to hold a meeting of their
emergency committee at 1300 GMT to discuss the incident.
"INJURED CYCLISTS"
Images shot by a Euronews journalist showed police pointing their
guns at the vehicle shortly after the crash. Footage on social media
showed a handcuffed man being led away by heavily armed police.
Other footage showed a cyclist lying on the street.
British Prime Minister Theresa May, who like other lawmakers is on
holiday during parliament's summer recess, said her thoughts were
with the people injured.
Westminster Underground station, close to parliament, was closed to
the public and the building cordoned off.
Britain is on its second-highest threat level of "severe", meaning
an attack is considered highly likely and the authorities say a
dozen Islamist plots had been foiled since Masood's attack in
Westminster last year.
Last week, a Muslim convert admitted plotting to kill more than 100
people by driving a truck into pedestrians on London's Oxford
Street, the capital's major shopping thoroughfare.
In October last year, 11 people were injured when a car collided
with pedestrians near London’s Natural History Museum, raising fears
of an attack, but police later said the incident was a road traffic
accident.
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(Additional reporting by Michael Holden, James Davey, Alistair Smout
and Paul Sandle; Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Janet
Lawrence)
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