A car mounted the pavement outside the Natural History Museum in London, England, injuring several people, though London police have determined that the incident was not terror related.
Videos posted on social media depict law enforcement and emergency vehicles at the scene. London police have confirmed they are aware of the incident, which took place on Exhibition Road. The London Ambulance Service said it treated 11 patients after the incident, nine of which were taken to hospital.
“We sent multiple resources to the scene, including our hazardous area response team, ambulance crews, paramedics in fast response cars and incident response officers,” Peter McKenna, deputy director of operations, said in a statement.
“We have worked closely with other members of the emergency services at the scene, with our priority being to get people to safety and ensure they received the medical help they needed as quickly as possible.”
The Metropolitan Police say that one person was detained at the scene.
Police described the incident in the South Kensington area of London as a collision and said the motive for the incident was under investigation.
“Inquiries to establish the circumstances and motive are under way,” police said.
The museum said on Twitter it was working with police after “a serious incident” outside and would provide more information later.
The police statement said officers were on the scene and that London Ambulance Service had been called. The Ambulance Service said it was responding. London Police have stated that they are keeping an open mind about whether the incident was a terror attack during the investigation, which contradicts an earlier statement claiming that they were not treating the incident as terror related.
A spokeswoman for the London force said counter-terrorism officers were assessing the incident but had not yet reached a conclusion as to the circumstances.
Britain remains on its second highest security alert level, which means than an attack by militants is highly likely. There have been five attacks already this year, three of which involved a motor vehicle.
This past March, a man drove a car into pedestrians on London’s Westminster Bridge, killing four before stabbing a police officer to death. Shortly after, three Islamist militants drove into people on London Bridge in June, killing eight. In the same month, a van was driven into worshipers near a mosque north of London, leaving one dead.
Canada also recently experienced a vehicular terror attack in Edmonton when 30-year-old Abdulahi Sharif ran down four pedestrians with a U-Haul this past week.
With files from Reuters.
More to come.