A man was killed and eight people were injured after a van ploughed into a crowd that gathered outside a London mosque after prayers. A police statement said the 48-year-old male driver of the van "was found detained by members of the public at the scene and then arrested by police".
British Prime Minister Theresa May said the incident is being treated by police as a potential terrorist attack. "Police have confirmed this is being treated as a potential terrorist attack," May said. "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.
According to reports, the incident took place on Seven Sisters Road, near Finsbury Park station, in north London at 12.20 am. The Muslim Council of Britain, an umbrella body, posted on Twitter that a van ran over worshippers as they left Finsbury Park Mosque after prayers.
"We have been informed that a van has run over worshippers as they left #FinsburyPark Mosque. Our prayers are with the victims," the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) said on Twitter.
Harun Khan, the head of the MCB, said the van had "intentionally" run over people leaving night prayers for the holy month of Ramadan.
The Sky News quoted the witnesses as saying that at least 10 people were hit by the van. The London Ambulance Service says the injured are being taken to hospitals. The British Police has described it as a 'major incident'. However, the agencies have not termed it as a terror incident yet.
The authorities said the traffic was shut down on a section of Seven Sisters Road, where the incident happened.
Earlier this month, a van veered into pedestrians on London Bridge, setting off vehicle and knife attacks that killed eight people and wounded many others on the bridge and in the nearby Borough Market area. Three Muslim extremists who carried out the attack were killed by police.
