LONDON: A terrorist attack ensued in the midafternoon of Wednesday, 22nd March 2017 in Westminster, London just in front of the U.K., Parliament. The attacker killed three civilians and one police officer in his rash run to the Parliament, before he was shot down by the British Police.
Although the exact motive and identity of the killer is unknown, he seems to be of Asian descent and was wielding two knives. The attacker drove his car from the south end of the Westminster Bridge at high speed, jumping on to the pavement and crushing many a victim under his wheels – some of which also fell into the river Thames below – and crashed it into the steels gates before the Parliament. He then got out, stabbed a police officer at the busy street and charged through the gates before he was open fired on, by the Metropolitan Police. Both the police officer, Keith Palmer, and the terrorist have died in the incident.
At the said time, Prime Minister Theresa May was present at the House of Commons, addressing the Parliament question in a 30 minute afternoon session as per her weekly schedule. Post the attack, the building was sealed while May was carried out securely and evacuated from the scene. She addressed the nation later saying, “The location of this attack was no accident. The terrorists chose to strike at the heart of our Capital City, where people of all nationalities, religions and cultures come together to celebrate the values of liberty, democracy and freedom of speech. Any attempt to defeat those values through violence and terror is doomed to failure.” Echoing her thoughts, Mayor Sadiq Khan said, “There will be additional armed and unarmed police officers on our streets from tonight in order to keep Londoners and all those visiting our city safe. Londoners will never be cowed by terrorism.”
The number of people who have been injured in the attack has now risen to 40 with the police even rescuing a woman who almost drowned in the Thames. Commander B.J. Harrington of New Scotland Yard reported that, “Although we remain open minded to the motive, a full counter terrorism investigation is already underway — this is led by the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command.”
The attack comes just one year after the infamous Brussels suicide bomb attacks that killed 32 people and wounded hundreds when an off duty soldier named Lee Rigby was killed by two al-Qaeda-inspired extremists. This assault too took the life of the policeman Palmer who was a brave and efficient officer as per his coworkers apart from being a loving father and husband.
As the world is mourning the fallen and condemning the attack, the London police are asking people to avoid Parliament Square, Whitehall, Westminster, and Lambeth Bridges, as well as Victoria Street.
