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War on Jihad

Crash outside UK parliament treated as terror attack

William Booth

By William Booth The Washington Post

Published August 14,2018

Crash outside UK parliament treated as terror attack
LONDON - A man crashed his car into security barriers outside Britain's Houses of Parliament during Tuesday morning's rush hour, injuring "a number of pedestrians," police said.


The driver was arrested at the scene. Witnesses told reporters that the man was led away in handcuffs by officers as ambulances and police vans surrounded the scene.


In a statement, Scotland Yard said that none of the injuries were life-threatening. London Ambulance Service said its staff treated two people at the scene.


The Metropolitan Police spokesman's office tweeted, "While we are keeping an open mind, the Met's Counter-Terrorism Command is leading the investigation into the #Westminster incident."


Several witnesses told British news media that the crash appeared to be intentional. The name of the driver has not been released.


The Palace of Westminster, where Parliament convenes, bolstered security around the buildings in March 2017, after Khalid Masood drove his car into crowds along Westminster Bridge, killing four people. In that attack, Masood leaped from his smashed car with a knife and began slashing at police and passersby. He killed one policeman before he was shot and killed by armed officers.


After Tuesday's incident, Jason Williams, 45, told the Good Morning Britain television program, "I saw a car going at high speed toward Parliament. It hit a bollard."



Williams said, "It looked deliberate. It didn't look like an accident. How do you do that by accident? It was a loud bang."


He estimated the car was traveling at 40-50 mph.


The vehicle crashed into a barrier outside the Parliament building, across the street from Westminster Abbey. Photographs taken at the scene show armed police surrounding a silver sedan, with automatic weapons pointed at the car.


Witness Ewalina Ochab told Britain's Press Association, "I heard some noise and someone screamed. I turned around and I saw a silver car driving very fast close to the railings, maybe even on the pavement."


She also believed the crash was intentional.

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