At least one person has been killed and 10 others injured after a vehicle ran over pedestrians close to two mosques in a north London neighborhood, UK police have said.
The 48-year-old driver of the van has been detained by bystanders and later arrested by police after the incident in Finsbury Park. The UK’s Counter Terrorism Command is investigating the attack, which occurred just after midnight on Monday.
Witnesses said the van veered off the road into worshipers leaving Ramadan prayers on Seven Sisters Road, running over several people before coming to a halt.
“Police were called just after 0020hrs [23:20 GMT] … to reports of a vehicle in collision with pedestrians,” they said in a statement, calling the incident “major”.
Eight of the injured were taken to hospitals and the rest were treated at the scene, police said, adding that the driver of the van had also been taken to hospital.
At the time of the attack, several hundred worshipers were on the streets in the area after attending prayers as part of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
British Prime Minister Theresa May said the incident was being treated by police as a “potential terrorist attack”.
“I will chair an emergency meeting later this morning … All my thoughts are with the victims, their families and the emergency services on the scene,” she said.
The leader of the opposition Labour Party Jeremy Corbyn also tweeted about the crash.