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Natural History Museum crash: man arrested after car hits pedestrians
Several people have been injured and a man has been arrested after a car struck pedestrians outside the Natural History Museum in west London.
Scotland Yard said a number of pedestrians had been injured in the incident in Exhibition Road in South Kensington shortly after 2.20pm on Saturday.
Pictures and video on social media showed street damage and a large police presence in the capital’s museum district, which is also home to the Science Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Counter-terrorism officers were working to determine a possible motive for the incident.
London mayor Sadiq Khan said: “Details are still emerging and I have spoken with and am in close contact with assistant Met commissioner Mark Rowley [head of UK counter-terrorism policing] and our other emergency services.”
Video footage posted on Twitter showed a man being restrained on the ground in the middle of Exhibition Road. None of the four people around him were in police uniform. A black Toyota car was behind them with the driver’s door open.
One witness, Lesley Carter, said passersby held the man down before police arrived: “I saw the man pinned down by about six people – one guy was trying to pin him down with his four- or five-year-old daughter in his arms.
“It looked like the car had smashed into the wall between two other cars and the guy got out to run before being pinned down. Loads of people were running away and within minutes the police had turned up. It was a very quick response.”
The streets around the museum were cordoned off in the wake of the incident and South Kensington underground station was closed.
By 4.30pm, police at the scene were telling curious tourists that the area was safe, while analysis was being carried out.
“I was serving some customers when the police came and just told everyone to run,” said a waitress from a restaurant on Exhibition Road, which was evacuated and cordoned off.
Another witness, Maxim, told Sky News the man was taken out of the car before being held down.
“They took the man from the car and put him on the ground and then 20 minutes later evacuated the street,” he said. “There was a lot of police, I saw people running, people were panicking.”
Another witness said: “We were walking near the Science Museum and heard a bang, bang … at first I thought it was gunfire. Then we walked past the scene of the accident and saw a guy pinned down by other men and lots of people calling the police.
“There didn’t appear to be many people hurt – a few sat by the side of the road but more looking shaken than anything. We were then ushered into the Science Museum and the area was quickly cleared of pedestrians.”
A Metropolitan police spokesman said: “Officers are on scene, and the London ambulance service have been called. A man has been arrested at the scene.”
Downing Street said Theresa May was being kept up to date with developments.
A spokesperson for the nearby V&A Museum said it had had not been closed to the public after the incident.
Several people have been injured and a man has been arrested after a car struck pedestrians outside the Natural History Museum in west London.
Scotland Yard said a number of pedestrians had been injured in the incident in Exhibition Road in South Kensington shortly after 2.20pm on Saturday.
Pictures and video on social media showed street damage and a large police presence in the capital’s museum district, which is also home to the Science Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum.
Counter-terrorism officers were working to determine a possible motive for the incident.
London mayor Sadiq Khan said: “Details are still emerging and I have spoken with and am in close contact with assistant Met commissioner Mark Rowley [head of UK counter-terrorism policing] and our other emergency services.”
Video footage posted on Twitter showed a man being restrained on the ground in the middle of Exhibition Road. None of the four people around him were in police uniform. A black Toyota car was behind them with the driver’s door open.
One witness, Lesley Carter, said passersby held the man down before police arrived: “I saw the man pinned down by about six people – one guy was trying to pin him down with his four- or five-year-old daughter in his arms.
“It looked like the car had smashed into the wall between two other cars and the guy got out to run before being pinned down. Loads of people were running away and within minutes the police had turned up. It was a very quick response.”
The streets around the museum were cordoned off in the wake of the incident and South Kensington underground station was closed.
By 4.30pm, police at the scene were telling curious tourists that the area was safe, while analysis was being carried out.
“I was serving some customers when the police came and just told everyone to run,” said a waitress from a restaurant on Exhibition Road, which was evacuated and cordoned off.
Another witness, Maxim, told Sky News the man was taken out of the car before being held down.
“They took the man from the car and put him on the ground and then 20 minutes later evacuated the street,” he said. “There was a lot of police, I saw people running, people were panicking.”
Another witness said: “We were walking near the Science Museum and heard a bang, bang … at first I thought it was gunfire. Then we walked past the scene of the accident and saw a guy pinned down by other men and lots of people calling the police.
“There didn’t appear to be many people hurt – a few sat by the side of the road but more looking shaken than anything. We were then ushered into the Science Museum and the area was quickly cleared of pedestrians.”
A Metropolitan police spokesman said: “Officers are on scene, and the London ambulance service have been called. A man has been arrested at the scene.”
Downing Street said Theresa May was being kept up to date with developments.
A spokesperson for the nearby V&A Museum said it had had not been closed to the public after the incident.
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