Staff Reporter- At least seven dead after white van plows into crowd on London Bridge
- Shots fired at scene and victims suffering from knife wound
- Three suspects, possibly armed, killed by police
- Theresa May to hold COBRA meeting early this morning
- Political party’s have suspended election campaigning
Three attackers then leapt out and started stabbing passers-by at random after the van had crashed, witnesses claimed.
Armed police shot and killed three suspects, within eight minutes of the original incident on the bridge.
The Met have confirmed the incidents are being treated as a terror attack and in their latest update confirmed seven people were killed in the attack.
A witness, known also as Eric, claimed he saw a van driving on the wrong side of the road before three men jumped out and started running towards bars and restaurants, shouting “this is for Allah”.
Simon Thompson was caught up in the events around London Bridge and rushed into the basement of a nearby restaurant for safety.
He told Sky News that there were “about 20 of us” adding: “People were looking on their phones, people checked twitter and rang relatives who checked on news websites.”
When he finally left the building he had been in he said all he could see was “lots of first aid kits and medical kinds of things and lots of armed police”.
Simon went on to explain that the area was “very busy” and there was a lot of people so it was hard to tell what was happening.
Speaking about the moment he knew it was safe to leave the building, he said: “The police had to tell us, they forced us out.
“They told us it was not safe.”
Several Witnesses told us that a white van had appeared to purposeful hit pedestrians on London bridge at 10.08pm.
A police officer at the scene urged people to run from the bridge.
Two other incidents are ongoing in Borough Market and Stockwell, where police have confirmed shots had been fired.London Metropolitan Police have urged members of the public to “remain calm, but be alert & vigilant”.
They tweeted: “We are using all necessary skills & resources at #LondonBridge #BoroughMaket #Vauxhall.”
Another serious incident occurred in Borough Market, where police confirmed shots had been fired.
CNN quoted a witness who said a waitress was stabbed in the throat while a man was stabbed in the back.
One of the men suspected of being behind the deadly attack was shown in a photograph lying on the ground with canisters strapped to his body after he was shot by the police.
Police confirmed reported explosions around London Bridge just before 2am were controlled and monitored.
A third incident in Vauxhall, South London, was later confirmed as not terror related.
All political partys, other than Ukip, have suspended national general election campaigning.
Get all the big headlines, pictures, analysis, opinion and video on the stories that matter to you.
