Terror attack close to/outside Parliament

DarloRich · 22 Mar 2017

Shots fired outside/ close to the Houses of Parliament

BBC: Reports of shots outside UK Parliament - Shots are reported to have been fired close to the Houses of Parliament in central London.
Politicians and journalists have tweeted about hearing loud crashes outside the buildings,

Witnesses said they saw people being treated for wounds and reported seeing a man with a knife in the grounds.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39355940

RailUK Forums

tsr · 22 Mar 2017

Also from the BBC website:

Commons Leader David Lidington has told MPs a "police officer has been stabbed" and the "alleged assailant was shot by armed police" following a "serious" incident within the parliamentary estate.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-england-london-39324960

On a railway note, TfL have advised me that Westminster Tube station is closed at the request of police (nb: no suggestion of any malicious activity on railway premises).

Roads in the area are also heavily disrupted and I suspect there will be closures in the Westminster/Victoria area for some considerable time.

DarloRich · 22 Mar 2017

good news - the PM is safe

Tetchytyke · 22 Mar 2017

I'm told from a friend at HMRC on Whitehall that everything is on lockdown, which isn't really much of a surprise.

Darandio · 22 Mar 2017

And the BBC live news page dedicated to the incident also has a tweet claiming:

Car 'has just mowed down at least 5 people'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-39355505

And another:

Reports that 4X4 which mowed people down on Westminster Bridge then crashed into Westminster Palace railings.

WelshBluebird · 22 Mar 2017

Arctic Troll said:
I'm told from a friend at HMRC on Whitehall that everything is on lockdown, which isn't really much of a surprise.

Yep, got a friend who worked in the Commons and a friend who works at the Department for Education and heard the same from them. To be fair, first I knew of anything happening was one of them posting on FB that they were safe and ok!

Simon11 · 22 Mar 2017

Its looks like someone has died

AlterEgo · 22 Mar 2017

I am in Portcullis house at the moment. Heard at least two gun shots as I was leaving. Ran back inside. Now can't leave until everything has calmed down.

Darandio · 22 Mar 2017

Simon11 said:
Its looks like someone has died

Judging by the very graphic live helicopter footage on BBC News, there could well be more than one. Over the whole length of the bridge and towards parliament, people were being treated.

Bungle965 · 22 Mar 2017

Police have confirmed that they are treating it as a 'terrorist incident'
Sam

tsr · 22 Mar 2017

Simon11 said:
Its looks like someone has died

Not to downplay the seriousness of this (and I am quite aware that a vehicle attack has probably left more casualties than this), but that person could be the attacker, who was apparently shot.

2HAP · 22 Mar 2017

There is a ongoing incident at Westminster. Parliament on lockdown. May affect trains from Waterloo / Charing Cross tonight. Westminster underground station currently closed.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39355940

A police officer has been stabbed in the Houses of Parliament in central London, in what police are treating as a terrorist incident.

Scotland Yard said it was called to a firearms incident on Westminster Bridge amid reports of several people injured.
Transport for London said Westminster underground station has been shut at the police's request, and buses diverted.

Darandio · 22 Mar 2017

Indeed, it's being discussed here: http://www.railforums.co.uk/showthread.php?t=144186

2HAP · 22 Mar 2017

Ah, not the place you'd think to look when rail services are disrupted, or highly likely to be disrupted.

tsr · 22 Mar 2017

EDIT: Further to the above, watching the BBC footage, it does look rather like an attacker, or rather them within a vehicle (my gut feeling is that it was the latter) has made their way right along the west pavement of Westminster Bridge from the South to North Banks of the Thames, plus possibly hitting a motorbike at the South/Waterloo end.

DarloRich · 22 Mar 2017

it seems there has been a vehicle attack on pedestrians on Westminster Bridge and some kind of incursion into the grounds of the Palace of Westminster.

tsr · 22 Mar 2017

Westminster Tube station is closed. There is existing disruption to Tube services for infrastructure reasons, but no other delays reported.

Services run by mainline operators are not currently affected by this.

YorkshireBear · 22 Mar 2017

Live tweets from scene suggest police have stopped resuscitation on at least 3 people including one of the unarmed police officers who initially attempted to stop him.

All live tweets from journalists and should be treated with caution. Mixture of Daily Mail & Huffington Post.

Darandio · 22 Mar 2017

YorkshireBear said:
All live tweets from journalists and should be treated with caution.

I think everything does.

Nick Robinson was just on the phone to the BBC, he had arrived afterwards and said he hadn't see anything and therefore didn't want to speculate. He then spent 5 minutes or so speculating.

ralphchadkirk · 22 Mar 2017

YorkshireBear said:
Live tweets from scene suggest police have stopped resuscitation on at least 3 people including one of the unarmed police officers who initially attempted to stop him.

All live tweets from journalists and should be treated with caution. Mixture of Daily Mail & Huffington Post.

So should posts on internet forums.

meridian2 · 22 Mar 2017

ralphchadkirk said:
So should posts on internet forums.

Indeed. Live news event threads need at least 12 hours to mature before they're worth a sniff.

Trainfan344 · 22 Mar 2017

Problem with breaking news. Is that there isn't much to report so there is nothing to do but speculate. All south bank attractions currently in lockdown.

Xenophon PCDGS · 22 Mar 2017

"Do not ask for breaking news, as speculation often offends" should be the motto for today.

richw · 22 Mar 2017

Summary from itv

The shots fired mentioned in the OP is now understood to have been police/Westminster security staff shooting the assailant. The assailant is believed to have driven along the pavement before stabbing a police officer who approached him.

A suspicious device reported found in a vehicle.

ITV's on scene reporter has just urged caution in the reporting and taking in of the incident due to disparity in eye witness accounts.

It's also the anniversary of the Brussels attack last year.

A Challenge · 22 Mar 2017

BBC Radio London: Casulties being taken to King's College Hospital in Denmark Hill and other hospitals - other people being asked to not go to the hospital or ring an ambulance in London. Lockdown of roads around Parliament Square and delays in the area. Buses delayed and bus tickets accepted on the Tube in Z1.

duncanp · 22 Mar 2017

The BBC are also reporting that people are trapped in Pods on the London Eye.

Must say I can't understand why they would do that, you can let people out of the London Eye and make them walk towards Waterloo Bridge and away from Westminster.

A Challenge · 22 Mar 2017

They can see quite well for what happened and they may have taken pictures of something important, so perhaps they are wanted to be questioned?

duncanp · 22 Mar 2017

BBC now saying that people are being allowed to leave the London Eye.

If anyone has film on their smartphones or cameras, there is a number they can call.

ExRes · 22 Mar 2017

duncanp said:
The BBC are also reporting that people are trapped in Pods on the London Eye.

Must say I can't understand why they would do that, you can let people out of the London Eye and make them walk towards Waterloo Bridge and away from Westminster.

In a security situation like this you evaluate before taking action, can you imagine what would be said if someone with a bomb or an automatic was waiting at the bottom of the Eye for an uncontrolled evacuation?

duncanp · 22 Mar 2017

ExRes said:
In a security situation like this you evaluate before taking action, can you imagine what would be said if someone with a bomb or an automatic was waiting at the bottom of the Eye for an uncontrolled evacuation?

Yes, I can see your point.

Terror attack close to/outside Parliament

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