At Least 1 Dead After Vehicle Hits Pedestrians Near North London Mosque

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A driver plowed into a crowd of Muslim worshippers outside a north London mosque early Monday in an attack that police said they were investigating as a terrorist incident.

A leader of the Muslim Council of Britain has called for extra security at mosques after a van struck worshippers leaving prayers at the Finsbury Park mosque.

A group of people were helping a man who had collapsed when they were hit by the van just after midnight.

- One man was found dead at the scene, according to police, but it's not clear if he was killed during the attack.

The chairman of the Finsbury Park Mosque, Mohammed Kozbar, has complained that the "mainstream media" was unwilling to call the attack a terrorist incident for many hours.

Jewish community groups have condemned an attack on a group of Muslim worshippers near a mosque by a man in a white van, being treated as terrorism by police said.

"Our thoughts and prayers this morning are with the family and friends of the man who died and those who were injured. It is too early to state if his death was as a result of the attack", police commander Neil Basu said. The driver would undergo a mental health assessment in due course, police said.

Numerous victims are believed to have just left evening prayers at the Muslim Welfare House after breaking the Ramadan fast.

Regardless, police said the incident "had all the hallmarks of a terrorist incident". "An attack on one community is an attack on all of us", Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said. May said her thoughts were with those injured in "this bad incident". "People bleeding. I've seen the guy being held on the floor", Ibn Oman told Reuters at the scene.

The van later swerved across the sidewalk and crashed. The mosque called it a "callous terrorist attack".

"When I got him on the ground, I said, 'Why are you doing this?' He said, 'I want to kill more Muslims'".

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"The injured and deceased brothers were being attended to and CPR was being administered on them".

A forensic tent, center, stands next to a van, in white, at Finsbury Park in north London after the vehicle struck pedestrians Monday, June 19, 2017.

Asked about mosque security, Home Secretary Amber Rudd told Sky News: We have a places of worship fund, which we announced last summer, and we will make sure that we do all we can to reduce these sort of attacks.

"While this appears to be an attack on a particular community, like the bad attacks in Manchester, Westminster and London Bridge it is also an assault on all our shared values of tolerance, freedom and respect", Khan said.

Men pray after a vehicle collided with pedestrians near a mosque in the Finsbury Park neighborhood of North London.

An imam has praised after he saved the FIndsbury Park attack suspect from being beaten when crowds pulled him from the van he used to kill one and injure many more.

The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, said he was "totally shocked". The other was held at the scene until the police came. It is being treated by police as an act of terrorism. Government minister Sajid Javid also spoke out to condemn this "hate crime attack", and he wished to offer "maximum reassurance" that the Muslim community will have all the public support that it needs. One was detained and two left the scene, the witnesses said.

The Metropolitan Police said the investigation of the incident is being carried out by the Counter Terrorism Command.

Earlier this month, eight people were killed at London Bridge, some of whom were hit by a van, and others stabbed by the three attackers.

Amid the angry screaming, people are heard trying to calm the crowd, one man saying: "Don't worry, officers are here".

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