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Witnesses
said the man was pinned to the ground by security guards before being detained
by police
|
Several people have been
injured after a car mounted the pavement and mowed down pedestrians outside the
Natural History Museum in London this
afternoon.
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Dramatic
pictures taken at the scene show police holding down a man covered in blood
with rubble strewn across the road
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A
man was pinned down by security guards and arrested by police in the heart of
the capital's museum land in Kensington.
Hundreds
of terrified tourists fled the scene as the black Toyota Prius - a registered
minicab - careered into a sign before ultimately crashing into a crowd of as
many as 10 people as it hit a silver car, according to witnesses.
Dramatic
pictures show guards holding down a man covered in blood with rubble strewn
across the road. Dozens of armed officers converged on the scene as search dogs
patrolled the area.
Nearby
museums including the Science Museum were evacuated with Tube stations sealed
off by police.
The
injured were seen sitting on steps being bandaged up before they were wheeled
away by paramedics.
Scotland
Yard said they were keeping an open mind as to whether the incident is
terror-related. A spokesman said a 'number' of people had been injured in
the horror crash.
London
Mayor Sadiq Khan said he is in 'close contact' with Assistant Met Commissioner
Mark Rowley - the head of UK counter-terrorism policing.
Today's
incident follows a series of vehicle attacks across Europe which have left well
over 100 people dead in Britain, France, Germany and
Stockholm.
Banker
Greg King claims he was the first person to call the police after nearly being
hit by the vehicle.
The
22-year-old told MailOnline: 'A black Toyota went ploughing straight towards us
and the crowd. I heard tyres screeching and a lot of screaming and then a
massive smash which was him hitting a sign and the glass falling.
'He
then swerved and went smashing into the silver car on the other side of the
road which stopped him.
'People
were sprinting in all directions and then it looked like a security guard from
the museum and two members of the public were pinning him down.
'He
had blood in his mouth so I assume they smashed him down on the ground.
'If
he hadn't turned in the road he would have gone straight into us. I could
literally see the whites of his eyes.
'There
were loads of families. There was one guy who was running with a pram above his
head while his wife held the baby so they could move faster.
He
then saw what appeared to be a father with his young daughter jumping out of
the back of the car.
Greg
continued: 'If he hadn't done that turn at the last moment we would have been
hit and he could have taken everyone down on that side of the road.
'The
car was still practically in motion when I picked up the phone to the police.
The woman said: 'What do you need?' and I just said: 'Send everyone'. Within
seconds I could see helicopters overhead.
'Then
the minute someone had him on the ground he wasn't saying anything or
struggling. He'd be shouting if it was a mistake.'
Georgie
Sheard, 21, a student from Warwickshire, said: 'It was literally so close. If
we were 10 steps ahead it would have been us hit. I just froze. I happened so
quickly I just didn't know what to do.'
Amy
Philips, 28, was driving towards department store Harrods with her son and
husband when she heard horns blaring and people screaming outside the Natural
History museum.
The
mother-of-one from Berkshire told MailOnline: 'We just saw people running and
screaming. I heard one woman shrieking 'there's a terrorist, run, run'.
'There
were lots of Chinese tourists sprinting away and we heard one woman say it was
just like the Barcelona terror attack'.
'We
managed to turn the car around and get to safety but it was very scary'.
Timothyna
Duncan, a 23-year-old Imperial College student from the USA, told MailOnline:
'It is very chaotic, and there are many police here and they seem confused
about what is going on.
'They
just don't know what's happening and are scared that it is a terrorist
attack. Some people in the area are a bit tense and they are leaving their
houses.'
A
local restaurant owner added: 'People started running into the restaurant, people
were running around on the street.
'A
policeman was shouting at us at the door to get out. Now I'm trying to calm
down my staff.'
Witness
Katie Craine said she was coming out of the museum when she saw a man in
handcuffs pinned down by police near a damaged car. 'He looked really proud of
himself,' she said. 'He was laughing.'
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