I feel for the victims and relatives.
I also agree with Simon. It's a shame that fighting jihadist ideology and radicalisation at the root is overshadowed by fear for racism and too much emphasis on privacy laws and data protection.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/mar/22/attack-houses-parliament-london-what-we-know-so-far
Here is what the Guardian has been able to confirm so far:
- Four people have died, including a police officer and one man believed to be the attacker, police said.
- At least 20 other people were injured in the attack, some sustaining “catastrophic” wounds.
- The alleged assailant drove a car into pedestrians on Westminster. Bridge before crashing it and then trying to enter the complex, armed with a knife.
- He was shot by armed police inside the security cordon of the Houses of Parliament.
- Police currently believe there was only one attacker, but have locked down the area around Westminster for further searches, as a precaution.
- Two of the victims are thought to have died on the bridge.
- Three French students, from a secondary school in Brittany, were among those injured when the car ploughed into pedestrians.
- Three police officers returning from a ceremony were also among those injured on the bridge.
- One woman was rescued from the Thames with serious injuries, after she apparently jumped or fell from the bridge, a spokesman for the Port of London Authority said.
- Scotland Yard said it had declared the attack in Westminster, which began at about 2.40pm London time, “a terrorist incident”.
- The Palace of Westminster was put in lockdown for several hours, as armed police searched through buildings.
- Many MPs were confined to the Commons chamber after parliamentary business was suspended. But both the House of Commons and House of Lords plan to sit tomorrow as usual.
- The prime minister, Theresa May, was evacuated from the parliament building within minutes and driven to Downing Street.
- International leaders including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Holland have sent messages of shock and solidarity. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson sent condolences to victims.
- Both the ambulance service and the Metropolitan police have appealed to the public to call 999 only in a genuine emergency.
- The London Eye, opposite parliament on the other side of Westminster Bridge, is also in lockdown, with some being held inside the attraction’s pods.
- The Thames has been closed to all but emergency vessels between Vauxhall Bridge and Embankment.