Witness Hussain Ali also claimed the suspect was smiling and waving as he brought carnage to Seven Sisters Road in Finsbury Park, north London.
Witness Cynthia Vanzella told Sky News she was trying to sleep when she heard a lot of noise outside. Police did not confirm that.
- The Metropolitan Police have deployed extra officers to "reassure communities, especially those observing Ramadan", according to London Mayor Sadiq Khan.
A man was found dead and at least eight people were hospitalized after an attacker rammed a van into a crowd of worshipers near a mosque in north London, in what police are treating as terrorism.
A Twitter post on the account of Muslim Engagement and Development, a nonprofit organization that fights Islamophobia and encourages British Muslims to get more involved in media and politics, said, "Our prayers and thoughts with those injured outside Muslim Welfare House in Seven Sisters road hit by a van mounting pavement".
He said that over the past weeks and months, Muslims have been enduring many incidents of Islamophobia and this is the most violent manifestation to date.
- Just after midnight Monday, a van ran into a group of people in London's Finsbury Park neighborhood.
The chairman of the Finsbury Park Mosque, Mohammed Kozbar, says the incident was a "cowardly attack" on worshippers.
"He went on top of the people".
"There was three of them. He was fighting to run away".
AFP reporters saw a helicopter hovering overhead and several emergency vehicles blocking a section of Seven Sisters Road, a busy thoroughfare. A lot of them was male. "He chose exactly the time that people pray, and the mosque is too small and full, so some pray outside". "Tomorrow when I come to the mosque I'll be looking over my shoulder because two guys are still out there", he added. I think (the road he took) is a blocked road - It's not even a through road.
Amit Shah meets Uddhav Thackeray, seeks support for presidential election
The Mumbai visit is part of the country-wide tour programme undertaken by Shah from April to September, party sources said. However, Thackeray reiterated his pet names for the top post - RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and agro-scientist MS Swaminathan.
- The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said "the appalling attack on Muslims in Finsbury Park is an attack on us all and on the culture and values of our country".
He said as he attended the injured, others grappled with the driver as he tried to run away.
"He had a tattoo on his back".
The attacks were a factor in campaigning ahead of the June 8 election, with Prime Minister May criticized for overseeing a drop of 20,000 in the number of police officers in England and Wales as interior minister from 2010 to 2016.
"I just saw everyone flying", one witness, who asked to be identified as Khalid, told ABC News on Monday.
"According to eye witnesses, the response of the emergency services at the scene, was put into question".
The van driver, a 48-year-old man, has been arrested at the scene by the police after being detained by members of public. He will be given a mental health evaluation.
"The investigation of the incident is being carried out by the Counter Terrorism Command".
The Met Police said in a statement: "Police were called just after 0020hrs 18 June to reports of a vehicle in collision with pedestrians".
Basu said the victims were all from the Muslim community, eight of the injured were taken to hospital and two were treated at the scene. "But of course we will always keep it under review to ensure that our emergency services have all the support they need so they can support the communities affected". "We would appeal for calm at this time". Many police cars and ambulances were responding.
"The incident is being managed by a team in a dedicated special operations centre".
Comments