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Coordinates: 51°30′03″N 0°07′19″W / 51.50083°N 0.12194°W / 51.50083; -0.12194
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===International===
===International===
Expresssions of support and sympathy were offered by the governments of France,<ref>{{Cite tweet|user=Élysée|number=844594550484205568|date=22 March 2017 |title="Le terrorisme nous concerne tous et la France sait ce que le peuple britannique a comme souffrance aujourd'hui" @fhollande #Londres |language=French}}</ref> Germany,<ref>{{Cite tweet|user=GermanEmbassyLondon|number=844609154912268288|date=22 March 2017 |title=Merkel: Deeply shocked by attacks on police & members of public in London. My thoughts are with injured & our solidarity goes out to the UK.}}</ref> the Netherlands,<ref name=Telegraaf27858452>{{cite web |url=http://www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/27858452/__Rutte__beelden_afschuwelijk__.html |title=Rutte noemt beelden uit Londen afschuwelijk |trans_title=Rutte calls images from London horrible |publisher=TMG Landelijke Media B.V.|location=Amsterdam |work=De Telegraaf |language=Dutch |accessdate=22 March 2017}}</ref> the United States,<ref name="BBC-39355505" /> Canada,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/london-parliament-attack-1.4035964|title=British PM condemns 'sick and depraved terrorist attack' that left 5 dead in London|work=CBC News|access-date=2017-03-22|language=en}}</ref> and Argentina.<ref name="MFA Argentina">{{cite web|title=La Argentina condena el atentado en Londres, Reino Unido de Gran Bretaña e Irlanda del Norte|url=https://mrecic.gov.ar/la-argentina-condena-el-atentado-en-londres-reino-unido-de-gran-bretana-e-irlanda-del-norte|publisher=[[Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship]]|accessdate=22 March 2017}}</ref>
Expressions of support and sympathy were offered by the governments of France,<ref>{{Cite tweet|user=Élysée|number=844594550484205568|date=22 March 2017 |title="Le terrorisme nous concerne tous et la France sait ce que le peuple britannique a comme souffrance aujourd'hui" @fhollande #Londres |language=French}}</ref> Germany,<ref>{{Cite tweet|user=GermanEmbassyLondon|number=844609154912268288|date=22 March 2017 |title=Merkel: Deeply shocked by attacks on police & members of public in London. My thoughts are with injured & our solidarity goes out to the UK.}}</ref> the Netherlands,<ref name=Telegraaf27858452>{{cite web |url=http://www.telegraaf.nl/binnenland/27858452/__Rutte__beelden_afschuwelijk__.html |title=Rutte noemt beelden uit Londen afschuwelijk |trans_title=Rutte calls images from London horrible |publisher=TMG Landelijke Media B.V.|location=Amsterdam |work=De Telegraaf |language=Dutch |accessdate=22 March 2017}}</ref> the United States,<ref name="BBC-39355505" /> Canada,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/london-parliament-attack-1.4035964|title=British PM condemns 'sick and depraved terrorist attack' that left 5 dead in London|work=CBC News|access-date=2017-03-22|language=en}}</ref> and Argentina.<ref name="MFA Argentina">{{cite web|title=La Argentina condena el atentado en Londres, Reino Unido de Gran Bretaña e Irlanda del Norte|url=https://mrecic.gov.ar/la-argentina-condena-el-atentado-en-londres-reino-unido-de-gran-bretana-e-irlanda-del-norte|publisher=[[Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship]]|accessdate=22 March 2017}}</ref>


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 23:06, 22 March 2017

2017 Westminster attack
Westminster Bridge and the Palace of Westminster, the main sites of the attack
Each stage of the attack and the perpetrator's route through Westminster
LocationWestminster, London, United Kingdom
Coordinates51°30′03″N 0°07′19″W / 51.50083°N 0.12194°W / 51.50083; -0.12194
United Kingdom
Date22 March 2017 (2017-03-22)
c. 14:40 (GMT)
Attack type
Weapons
Deaths5 (including attacker and 1 police officer) [1]
Injured41+

On 22 March 2017 an attack occurred on Westminster Bridge, in Parliament Square and within the grounds of the Palace of Westminster, in central London.[2] A Hyundai vehicle was driven into a crowd of people near the palace gates, and an attacker stabbed a police officer. Five people—including pedestrians on the bridge, the police officer and the assailant—were confirmed dead.[3][4][5][6][7][excessive citations]

Attack

At around 14:40 GMT on 22 March 2017, a grey Hyundai vehicle on Westminster Bridge was driven into pedestrians (including three police officers) causing multiple casualties. One of the casualties, a woman, either jumped or fell over the railings on the side of the bridge into the River Thames below, sustaining severe injuries from the fall. The vehicle continued on and crashed into railings outside the Houses of Parliament. A man wearing black clothes exited the vehicle and managed to enter the grounds of the nearby New Palace Yard, where he stabbed an unarmed police officer with a knife. After the attacker was warned, two plainclothes police officers shot the man four times, killing him.[3][4][6][8][9][excessive citations]

It was the first major attack to hit London since the murder of Lee Rigby and the deadliest since the 7 July 2005 London bombings.[10] The attacks were carried out exactly one year after the 2016 Brussels bombings.

Response

The threat level for international terrorism in the UK was already listed at severe, meaning an attack is 'highly likely'.[11] Shortly after the incident, additional armed police arrived. An air ambulance attended the scene and emergency services attempted to resuscitate the assailant who had been shot at least once on the left side of his chest. Member of Parliament and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Tobias Ellwood attempted to provide resuscitation and stem the bleeding of an injured police officer, who was subsequently reported to have died.[12] Dr Jeeves Wijesuriya, chair of the junior doctors' committee of the British Medical Association, happened to be at Westminster at the time of the attack, and rendered cardiac massage to the stabbed police officer, as well as attempting to resuscitate the attacker.[3]

After the incident, Parliament was suspended and MPs were locked into the Commons debating chamber as a precaution, and other Parliamentary staff were told to remain in their offices. All were later evacuated to Westminster Abbey.[3] The Prime Minister, Theresa May, was evacuated to 10 Downing Street.[3]

Westminster tube station was closed and buses diverted as a precaution. The River Thames was shut to boat traffic between Vauxhall Bridge and the Embankment immediately after the attack.[4][9] The London Eye was placed in lock-down.[3] The incidents were treated by the Metropolitan Police as a terrorist attack; the police asked the public to avoid the area including Parliament Square, Whitehall, Westminster Bridge, Lambeth Bridge, Victoria Street up to the junction with Broadway and Victoria Embankment up to Embankment tube station. The UK government's emergency Cabinet Office Briefing Room (COBRA) committee met in response to the attack.[3][6][13][14][15]

The acting Metropolitan Police Service deputy commissioner Craig Mackey was a witness to the incident, and so recused from giving public statements about the events.[3][16]

Victims

Victims by nationality
Nationality Dead Wounded
 United Kingdom 4 unknown
 South Korea 0 5[17]
 France 0 3[18]
 Romania 0 2[17]
 Italy 0 1[19]
Unknown 1 9

Five people were killed in the incident, including the perpetrator.[15] One woman was killed in the incident, as announced by a hospital doctor at St Thomas' Hospital.[4] The police officer who was stabbed, Keith Palmer,[20] died of his injuries.[3] 12 people received serious injuries, some "catastrophic",[6] and eight others were treated for less serious injuries at the scene.[9] Injured members of the public were taken to St Thomas' Hospital, which is located immediately across Westminster Bridge in Lambeth, and to King's College Hospital, which declared a 'major incident', St Mary's Hospital, the Royal London Hospital and the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.[3][9] A woman with serious injuries was rescued from the River Thames.[3] It is believed she may have fallen from the bridge or jumped to evade the attacker.[3] A group of French students, aged 15–16, from Concarneau in Brittany were among those injured.[3][21] Others included three police officers who were returning from a commendation ceremony, two Romanian citizens and four students from Edge Hill University.[3][9]

Attacker

Although some reports gave descriptions of two supposed attackers, the police confirmed that they believed that there was only one person involved.[3] A picture of the suspected attacker being treated by medics was released.[22]

Reactions

Domestic

Downing Street issued a statement saying "The thoughts of the PM and the Government are with those killed in this appalling incident, and with their families. The PM was kept updated and chaired a meeting of the COBRA committee, later commenting in a statement at Downing Street "we will all move forward together. Never giving in to terror. And never allowing the voices of hate and evil to drive us apart."[23] The speakers of both Houses of Parliament issued a joint statement:[3]

An extremely serious incident has occurred in the Westminster area this afternoon. The Metropolitan Police is dealing with this and an investigation is underway. On behalf of Members of both Houses of Parliament, we wish to offer our thoughts to all those affected and their families. We would also like to express our gratitude to the police and all emergency services.

The Scottish Parliament suspended the day's proceedings, including a debate on a second independence referendum, because the incident was affecting the contributions of MSPs.[24] Shortly afterwards the Welsh Assembly suspended its day's proceedings.[3]

International

Expressions of support and sympathy were offered by the governments of France,[25] Germany,[26] the Netherlands,[27] the United States,[3] Canada,[28] and Argentina.[29]

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-39359158
  2. ^ "Westminster attack: four confirmed dead including police officer and attacker - live". The Guardian. 22 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "London attack - latest updates". BBC News. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d "Parliament shooting: Woman dies in Westminster attack". BBC News. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  5. ^ "'Terror' attack near U.K. Parliament: What we know". USA Today. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  6. ^ a b c d Boyle, Danny; Evans, Martin. "Parliament shooting: Knifeman shot by police after charging through Westminster gates and stabbing officer". The Telegraph. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  7. ^ "Westminster is in lockdown and Parliament suspended after 'terror' attack". Sky News. London. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  8. ^ Allen, Emily (22 March 2017). "Westminster attack: Everything we know so far". The Telegraph. Retrieved 22 March 2017. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |website= (help)
  9. ^ a b c d e Sparrow, Andrew. "Parliament attack: man shot after police officer stabbed at House of Commons". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  10. ^ "Westminster attack: Car-and-knife rampage kills four". Al Jazeera. 22 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  11. ^ "U.K. Parliament attack: Four dead and 20 injured in 'sick and depraved terrorist incident' at Westminster". National Post.
  12. ^ Ellis-Petersen, Hannah (22 March 2017). "Tobias Ellwood MP hailed for attempting to save officer's life". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  13. ^ Castle, Stephen. "Shooting Reported Outside U.K. Parliament". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  14. ^ Murphy, Brian. "British Parliament on lockdown after shooting incident outside". The Washington Post. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  15. ^ a b "London attack: Four dead in Westminster terror incident". BBC News. 22 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  16. ^ "Westminster terror attack: First picture of suspect". Sky News. 22 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  17. ^ a b lefigaro.fr. "EN DIRECT - Attaque terroriste à Londres : au moins 3 morts et 20 blessés".
  18. ^ "Attentat à Londres : des lycéens Français blessés, un assaillant neutralisé au Parlement". Capital.fr (in French). Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  19. ^ Altri articoli dalla categoria ». "Giovane bolognese lievemente ferita nell'attentato di Londra - Repubblica.it". Bologna.repubblica.it. Retrieved 22 March 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ "Keith Palmer named as officer killed in London terror attack as five confirmed dead | Metro News". Metro.co.uk. 22 March 2016. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  21. ^ "Attaque à Londres : des élèves français blessés, selon Bernard Cazeneuve". LesEcho.fr (in French). Paris. 22 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  22. ^ "Westminster attack: First picture of suspect". News.sky.com. 22 March 2017. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  23. ^ https://www.usnews.com/news/top-news/articles/2017-03-22/uk-pm-mays-thoughts-are-with-killed-injured-in-appalling-incident
  24. ^ "Holyrood referendum debate halted after Westminster shooting". BBC News. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  25. ^ @Élysée (22 March 2017). ""Le terrorisme nous concerne tous et la France sait ce que le peuple britannique a comme souffrance aujourd'hui" @fhollande #Londres" (Tweet) (in French) – via Twitter.
  26. ^ @GermanEmbassyLondon (22 March 2017). "Merkel: Deeply shocked by attacks on police & members of public in London. My thoughts are with injured & our solidarity goes out to the UK" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  27. ^ "Rutte noemt beelden uit Londen afschuwelijk". De Telegraaf (in Dutch). Amsterdam: TMG Landelijke Media B.V. Retrieved 22 March 2017. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
  28. ^ "British PM condemns 'sick and depraved terrorist attack' that left 5 dead in London". CBC News. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
  29. ^ "La Argentina condena el atentado en Londres, Reino Unido de Gran Bretaña e Irlanda del Norte". Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
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