Update at 10 a.m.: The death toll from Saturday night’s terrorist attacks rose to seven on Sunday morning as police carried out multiple raids in the east London suburb of Barking and arrested 12 people. The London Ambulance Service said it had taken at least 48 people to five hospitals across London after the incidents.
Update on June 4 at 1:50 a.m.: At least six people were killed and more than 48 were injured in “terrorist incidents” that took place in the heart of London on Saturday night. Attackers drove a van and plowed into pedestrians on London Bridge. Then, three men left the van and started attacking people at bars and restaurants in nearby Borough Market. Within eight minutes, police shot and killed the three attackers, who were wearing fake suicide vests.
At least one person was killed by the van on London Bridge, while the rest were apparently victims of the random stabbing rampage that followed. Witnesses described horrific scenes of bar patrons throwing chairs and bottles at the attackers to try to stop them.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack—“terrorist incidents,” according to London’s Metropolitan Police—that hit a nation still reeling from two previous attacks in the last three months. Less than two weeks ago, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, killing 22 people. In March, a similar car and knife attack in Westminster left five people dead.
The attacks came mere days before the June 8 election and security and Britain’s role in wars around the globe are likely to become bigger topics of conversation in the campaign.
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Update at 8 p.m.: Police in London declared the events of Saturday night involving a van running over pedestrians on London Bridge and stabbings in nearby Borough market were declared “terrorist incidents.”
A third incident that took place in the Vauxhall was a stabbing that was not connected.
Witnesses are also reporting that people on the bridge seem to have been stabbed. One person who was in a pub underneath London Bridge at the time of the attack said a person came inside looking for help. “She was bleeding heavily from the neck,” the witness told the BBC. .”It appeared that her throat had been cut. People sought to stem the bleeding and the pub was closed.”
Original post: A confusing situation is developing in London on Saturday night as there are reports of at least one person killed and numerous injured after a van reportedly hit pedestrians on London Bridge in the heart of the British capital. There are also witness reports of stabbings in nearby Borough Market, an area that has lots of restaurants and bars and is usually packed on weekends.
“A white van driver came speeding—probably about 50 miles per hour—veered off the road into the crowds of people who were walking along the pavement,” Holly Jones, a BBC reporter who happened to be at the bridge when the incident took place, said. “He swerved right round me and then hit about five or six people. He hit about two people in front of me and then three behind.” At least one person was killed on the bridge, police said.
Meanwhile, a witness told CNN that a man with a “massive knife” entered a restaurant in Borough Market and stabbed two people. Police said they fired shots.
Police also said they were responding to a third incident in Vauxhall and told anyone at the scene of the incidents to run and hide. There are reports that law enforcement is looking for three suspects who may be armed.
*This post has been updated with new information since it was first published.
