This night in London a van drove on pedestrians near a mosque. Ten people got injured and a person died. The attack happened when a man got first aid on the sidewalk. That man is the deadly victim. According to the police, it is too early to conclude that the death of that man is related to the attack. All victims are Muslim. According to eyewitnesses, the man shouted: "I'm going to kill all Muslims." British media also reported that eyewitnesses called him to call after people were called in. "I've delivered my share."
Around 0.20 o'clock local time the police were notified of the incident on Seven Sisters Road in the Finsbury Park district. The police arrested the 48-year-old driver of the van after being overtaken by bystanders. The perpetrator threatened to be matched by a predecessor of the affected mosque, Toufik Kacimi, but an imam in the vicinity, Mohammed Mahmoud, preceded the lynch party.
It's about a 48-year-old Caucasian man. He was taken to a hospital to look at his mental state. The authorities assume a terrorist motive. The man was not familiar with the security services. That is what security minister Ben Wallace has said to the UK public broadcaster BBC.
The police's anti-terrorist unit is involved in the investigation. Prime Minister Theresa May announces that the "tragic incident" is being treated as "a potential terrorist attack." Later in the morning there is a crisis. The National Anti-Counter Coordinator states that the police are not looking for other suspects.
According to the British Muslim Council, the man was deliberately rushed to the believers, and the driver did that from Islamophobia. The police states, "This was an attack on London and all Londoners," adding that the perpetrator was arrested for alleged murder and attempted murder.
The van was hired at a company near Cardiff, the capital of Wales. The police in Wales are working with Scotland Yard in investigating the incident.
Passers-by-goers declared that a crowd had formed to help an elderly man who was crashed and rehabilitated before the van came. Omstanders helped raise the van to deliver missing people from under the vehicle.
Eyewitnesses describe how bystanders quickly overthrow the driver of the van after having left his vehicle. "Some wanted to teach him a lesson, others said they had to wait for the police," witnesses a man over Channel 4.
- Absolute chaos
Eyewitnesses declare that the vehicle drove off the road and entered into believers who left the mosque after the Ramadan prayer. "Through my window I heard shouting, it was absolute chaos," said a woman living in front of the site of the incident to the BBC. "Everybody cried:" A van has hit people "".
A witness, Ali, describes how injured people lay on the footpath. "There was a man who blew from his head and out of his foot," he explains to The Independent. "There was a woman on the ground who had fallen out of a wheelchair, we helped her out. Many people lay on the ground, there was blood on the footpath."
The incident happened before the door of organization Muslim Welfare House, according to the Muslim Council on Twitter. This building is located near the mosque in Finsbury Park. Due to the ramadan it would have been extra busy on the street. The emergency services are massively on site and Seven Sisters Road is closed.
According to the British Muslim Council, the car was deliberately rushed to the believers, and the driver made out of Islamophobia.
The chairman of the Muslim Council says shocked and angry, "to hear that a van will intentionally enter into worshipers who left the Ramadan night prayer."
"Whoever did this wanted to hurt people. This is a terror attack," says the chairman of the mosque Mohammed Kozbar to The Sun. According to the newspaper, the van was a rented vehicle that entered the believers.
It is the third time in a short time that such an incident occurs in the British capital. In March, a terrorist attacked pedestrians on Westminster Bridge and drove to the Palace of Westminster where he dropped an agent. Early this month, three perpetrators drove a lorry over the London Bridge. They stepped out at Borough Market and hit people with knives. In addition, eight killed, the three attackers were killed by the police.
Former place of patch
In the meanwhile, Twitter has also captured images of a man arrested by the police. It can be seen how agents protect the man from angry bystanders and finally get him into the police bus. Some people help the agents.
According to Metro, the mosque in Finsbury Park was previously the plot of hatred predictor Abu Hamza, delivered to the US after attempting to bombard a plane from Paris to Miami. The mosque was closed for a while but was later re-commissioned by the Muslim community. It promoted a place of better relations between the different religions in the neighborhood.
In 2014, bank HSBC closed the mosque bank account because of alleged terrorist tires for 2005. The bank did this on the basis of information from the news agency Reuters. The mosque challenged Reuters before the court and won the case earlier this year. Reuters had to offer apologies and pay compensation.
"Terrible incident"
British Prime Minister Theresa May and opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn expressed their sympathy for the victims of the assault. May spoke of a "horrible incident" and added that "all her thoughts go out to those who have been injured, their loved ones and to the rescue services that are on the spot."
On Twitter, Corbyn states he is "completely shocked by the incident to Finsbury Park". "I'm in touch with Islington's mosques, the police and the authorities. My thoughts go to the people and the community affected by this horrible event."
"Terrible attack"
The incident will be investigated by the police anti-terrorist unit. The police have used extra mansions to protect the citizens, especially those who participate in the Ramadan, it still sounds.
The British Muslim Council asks the authorities to drive up security measures to the mosques.
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, thanked the emergency services for the quick performance. "We do not yet know all the details, but this was clearly a terrible attack on innocent Londoners, many of whom were praying for the holy month of Ramadan."
According to Khan, this attack, which looks like a specific community, like the attacks in Manchester, Westminster and London Bridge, "an attack on our shared values of tolerance, freedom and respect." He calls citizens to keep calm and watchful .
Prayer watches
Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn of Labor will attend the prayer wake today in the Finsbury Park Mosque. He also calls on everyone to stay calm and to unite. "I'm shocked by this terrible and cruel attack in Finsbury Park, which is being treated as a terrorist act," Corbyn said in a statement on Twitter. He says that having a local parliamentarian has been sitting together with local Muslim leaders, together with, among others, Richard Watts, the leader of the city council in Islington. "Richard and I will attend the prayer service in Finsbury Park Mosque later in the day," he announced.