specht we heard probably 4045 minutes ago that the suspect has died and in a news conference moments ago we heard that one of those capitol police officers has succumbed to the injuries and died as well no confirmation on who that is obviously as the next of kin are yet to be informed continuing coverage here on al-jazeera of the situation in washington d.c. without same in london maryam namazie in just a moment. it watching it's just gone 900 g.m.t. and we are continuing our coverage of developments in of the u.s. capital and of course we've been covering this for the past hour or so where we have just received confirmation in the past 15 minutes in the past quarter of an hour that a capitol police officer was killed after a man rammed a car into 2 offices and they you can see the image of the car at the barricade

just outside the u.s. capitol and we had confirmation of of the sequence of events which subsequently took place the suspect then we were told exit in his vehicle he had a knife in his hand and then lunged at 2 police officers with his knife the police officers engaged with the suspect he didn't respond to any verbal commands or instructions he was just lunging at u.s. capitol police officers at which point we understand the offices fied upon the suspect the suspect is now dead the 2 officers were then transported to u.s. hospitals in the area and we had confirmation in the past few minutes that one of the police officers has succumbed to his injuries and died well alan fischer is live for us now in washington of course he's been covering all of this and allan what did we learn in terms of whether there is a an ongoing threat. well we know that there is no ongoing threat but the

investigation is still very much at the airlie stages just in the last few minutes nancy pelosi the speaker of the house on capitol hill has announced that flags will be flown at half mast after you're going to end the pitman who is the acting head of the u.s. capitol police announced that with a very very heavy heart one of our officers had died it was just after 1 o'clock this afternoon that the car approached a checkpoint on the senate side of the capitol hill complex it moved towards erode blog 2 police officers tried to stop a more hit by the car then collided with one of the body is that in the road the man then got out of the car carrying what's been described as between a kitchen knife and a machete he lunged at one of the police officers we understood struck that police officer saying there was a threat capitol hill police officers opened fire shooting the suspect the helicopter was called to the complex within a few minutes they were on their way to hospital both the suspect who was under

police arrest at that point and the 2 capitol hill police officers both going to different hospitals at the hospital the suspect who suffered gunshot wounds was reported to have succumbed to those injuries and as you see just in the last 15 minutes confirmation that the police officer has died of his injuries the other police officer we're still not entirely sure what his condition is in the hospital but for the 2nd time in 3 months capitol hill is once again a crime scene. and also in that briefing that we just had there allan we didn't have any other information about the well actually about the slain police officer because we were told that the police officers family obviously have to be informed about with this news and that has to be dealt with in a very sensitively but we haven't had any more information about the suspect. you know you can imagine that the u.s.

capitol police feel they're almost at breaking point 2 officers were were killed in the aftermath of what happened on january the 6th 2 others have taken their life since then because of what they witnessed on january the 6th and no here is another incident just in the last few weeks just in the last few days we've seen the perimeter fences at the capitol hill complex and even here at the white house start to move in a bit simply because they felt that the risk was slightly more manageable the outer perimeter fencing was moved the imminent to enter perimeter fencing stayed in place and that's where that incident happened there are still 2300 national guard on duty on capitol hill they have no been deployed to route closures in the area the attorney general merrick garland has been informed of what has happened he is monitoring the situation he of course is the head sensually the head of the f.b.i. he oversees the f.b.i. in field agents are on the ground at the moment but this investigation it will be

the capitol police not the capitol hill police but the police here in washington d.c. that will lead that investigation with help from the f.b.i. we can even see what state the person comes from because as you can see the car it's boot it's trunk is currently up so we can't even identify the license plate but you can be sure that the 1st job will be to dent of fire the driver the 2nd will be to find out what more to be possibly had for this attack and if the nor who the driver is if there is evil to identify him from not license plate you can be rest assured that there are f.b.i. officers on the we to his home at this moment to see if they can find any clues to find out why he me of launched this attack here on capitol hill if there is a silver lining here it is that one the security barriers walked over or a police officer has paid for it with his life and the 2nd thing is that capitol hill is essentially on recess on vacation this is good friday. important day in the

christian calendar many congressmen and women many senators are back in their home districts their home states there will be a limited number of stuff for us on the hill cutting the job and of course there are still police officers and national guard officers there protecting the complex one of them has given his life doing his job died in the line of duty in the last 2 hours. and it's interesting that you mention the way the police feel at this moment and how emotions have been running high allan because of course when the i mean there's no an obviously there's no there's no connection between what happened on january 6th and the developments that we've had today but it does says of bring back memories of what was not just a physical breach of the capitol but also something that really shook the psyche of the people there. i think we can assume that one of the things the investigators will be looking at is whether or not there is

a connection between january the 6th and what happened in the last couple of hours me seem completely divorced to me almost be 3 months apart but it is something that will be investigated to see if there is any possible link if the person who carried out the attack today was in any way involved in what happened on january the 6th even as a casual observer there will be nothing that will be left to chance here we know that there have been security reviews one was immediately commissioned by nancy pelosi the speaker of the house and made several recommendations to improve security on capitol hill we know that the attack on january the 6th really unveiled some flaws in the security and that was a concern to many people and they think that a lot of those flaws if not all of them have been addressed and and certainly walker owns have been put in place but this was concern the capitol police who once again find themselves on the front line simply doing their jobs and

what happens now allan because the the u.s. capitol complex was placed on lockdown after the shooting we understand that staff and people in the area told that they can't use buildings they can't enter or exit buildings are we seeing a we seeing more troops mobilizing not just in the vicinity of the crash but possibly elsewhere. national guard to be moved around the complex there are still road closures in the area we understand that the law don't order if it hasn't already been lifted will shortly to load people to leave the complex we know that force responders have by and large left the area what is left no is a scene of crime and it will be the investigators who will take control of that for many people on capitol hill they've been calling their bosses one congressman said that he got another call from one of the people who works in his office on capitol

hill to say we're under attack again simply because in the early moments of what had happened just getting in a lead to see shelter in place because of an external incident no one knew exactly what was going on certainly the whole incident was raised at the white house briefing just after jen psaki taken the stage to start talking to the media we know that the incident happened on capitol hill the whole idea of what had happened was news to her she said that obviously the president would be informed he's on his way to camp david he actually arrived there in the last he will want to be kept informed even though this is meant to be a break for him and his family and he will be concerned about what is happening but just to recap what i told you right at the start of the show just in the last few minutes nancy pelosi who is the speaker of the house she has said that all flags on capitol hill will fly at half staff in remembrance of this police officer who's been killed in the last 2 hours in the incident on capitol hill. all right thank

you very much for now alan fischer monitoring developments there in washington of course we can see an image of the car which rammed into 2 police offices at a barricade just outside the u.s. capitol this is the information that we've had so far and actually had confirmation of the the order the sequencing of events just a couple of minutes ago when capitol police briefed reporters just in the past 30 minutes confirming that a police officer was killed and as alan was saying flags will be flying. out of obviously respect to that officer for what has happened but we understand that the suspect rammed a car into 2 police offices he then emerged from the vehicle he had a knife and he tried to he didn't listen to any commands to stop or any instructions from the offices he tried to lunge at the police officers with his knife and they then engaged with him and the suspect is now dead and one police

officer has also died now in that press conference we didn't get any information about the officer who's died we didn't get any further information about the suspect either so we are just waiting for some details obviously details are. we're just at the initial stages of the investigation and these developments still unfolding but authorities did confirm that there isn't any ongoing threat and they seem to indicate that the attack didn't appear to be related to terrorism but as allan was saying they investigation will focus on that being a potential connection between these developments that we've had today and the riot on the capital which took place on january 6th now there is no initial immediate link between these 2 events but it will it is reasonable to assume that it will be something. that will come up in the investigation now this of course

happened as alan was saying at a time when congress is on recess so very different conditions and circumstances to the capitol right when that breach took place actually many people everyone there on the easter break their congress isn't currently engaged in any proceedings but it does come after emotions are running high in there is still that sense of tension in the area 3 months after the armed insurrection after that armed insurrection and we saw those protesters storming the capitol as congress was voting to certify president joe biden's victory in the election we are expecting to get some reaction from the president him selfe very shortly but of course in that in that riot on january 6th 5 people lost their

lives and that included a capitol police officer as well who was among you'll recall he was among those small number of police officers who were vastly outnumbered by the number of protesters trying to actually fight them often and defend the area so you know one capitol police officer died and one thing we heard in the press conference. it was for really the police officers to be in people's thoughts and prayers because this is a force that has been very much under attack and has obviously been tasked with defending the area defending the capital but it is important to say that there is no immediate link between what took place on january 6th and the incident that has happened today will be investigated and of course the investigation still in its its initial stages i think mike hanna joins us now he's also been following

developments and mike just tell me where whereabouts you. where you can see the capitol right behind me here the police and national guard and the capitol police have erected a roadblock right here you can with me view credentials nobody is being allowed through about 100 yards up that road constitution avenue is where the attempted breach took place shortly after 1 o'clock d.c. time so the whole area completely blocked off at the moment we've heard that 2 people have died the driver of the car was killed as well as one of the capitol police officers now further details that have just been released at that news conference that the driver had some kind of weapon it is alleged a knife or some form of machete all of the injured there was another capitol police officer who was also injured they were all taken to hospital we've now got confirmation that one of the capitol police officers and the driver of the vehicle

have died subsequently so this is the situation here the capitol in complete lockdown at the moment as you can see the national guard here behind me they were still some 2 and a half 1000 national guard stationed in washington after they'd been deployed here on the events of january the 6th and they were kept here by special permission at the request. congress so they are now in place and also a very important point here is world is that these national guard were deployed within 40 minutes of the event happening that's a lot quicker than what happened on january the 6th when it was a matter of hours before the national guard were actually deployed so the situation at the moment the capitol police saying that it appears that this was a lone wolf attack as they put it they have no signs of any form of cooperation with other entities so they are treating this as

a one off event carried out by one individual so that is the information that we have at the moment the whole capital income people are down as you see and of course many people watching this will not be familiar with the the area and the jungle fear of where this incident has taken place might this barricade that the car rammed into now is that obviously this is a this is a security checkpoint right now senators and congress men and women are on leave because congress is in recess but typically is this an area that would be used by senators and other staff working in the area. indeed yes now this particular area the street right behind me here is constitution avenue now just down on the other side of the capitol is independence avenue the capitol city between these 2 major avenues now this avenue constitution avenue is the major artery into the congress itself or most of the representatives they would either go

up this road or the road behind entering the capitol from the other side this is basically the major point of access now before this this road behind me constitution avenue was open to traffic the actual perimeter was where that car attempted to breach the line of fencing that you see behind me will a gap in the line of fencing where there were some road blocks or rectitude that would have been the vehicle entry point for representatives going to congress there's a similar entry point on the other side of the capitol complex but normally this road would be open it has been open in recent weeks there was a 2nd tree fence that had been erected that has now been taken away so this roadblock that you see behind me here has been erected shortly after this incident happened that's within the last hour and a half or so so this is not normal obviously this has been put in place simply

because of what has happened at this particular day the restrictions around the capitol had been slightly eased in the last few days as i mentioned there were layers of fencing around the capitol complex on all parts off it and now the outer fence a massive out of fence that had been erected off to general the 6 has been taken part taken down for the most part but that in a fence that you see there that has remained along with those concrete blocks that you see at the bottom all of that was put in after january the 6th now those precautions still in place the as you are talking here i see the national guard about to deploy maybe were. i'll be able to move further up constitution avenue shortly but these things as i keep on saying this is a temporary roadblock which was only put up here following this event but what's very unusual is that even with media credentials we were not allowed beyond this

particular roadblock now previously with the media credentials you were able to have free access to the capitol as a whole but is just 3 shows the sensitivity of this particular event in the wake of the generally the 6 that there was a complete lockdown on this occasion now as you mentioned as well congress is on recess everybody has gone away for the easter weekend not many representatives in the complex itself of everybody away but still of this massive security has been put in place and as i said even greater lockdown then happened after those events on january the 6th because gulf wars happened on january the 6th. thank you very much mike hanna following developments for us there in washington which once again is the scene of another attack you can see the national guard troops have been mobilized they have been deployed after this security incident this the heart of the u.s. capitol of course that the seat of power and authority in the country once again

the scene of a deadly attack just less than 3 months after the insurrection in which 5 people lost their lives today another police officer has died in defense of the capital after the attack rammed his car through a security barrier and then exit to the car will bring a knife he lunged at belief police officers they then engaged him and the suspect is now dead the police or one of the 2 police officers succumbed to his injuries we heard the other is still in hospital there is no ongoing threat but of course this does add to a capital that is very much on edge emotions running high still a sense of tension after what took place on january 6th of course it deals another blow to a police force. who are already still very much in mourning still in reflection off to what happened just just less than 3 months ago there has been some reaction

nancy pelosi has been speaking out and has ordered flags at the capitol to its capital to be flown at half staff out of respect for the police officer who lost his life in the attack this afternoon. that is we also understand that actually the process of lowering the flags is going to take a bit longer than usual because of the current lockdown status in the capital and also a bit of reaction here from congressman mickey cheryl. democrat of new jersey expressing sadness over the death of another u.s. capitol police officer so soon after the january 6th and insurrection saying to see these capitol police force who've been traumatized already by what has happened so many members of congress myself included feel we owe them a huge debt so. mickey sheryl speaking out just a little bit earlier on on u.s.

television and actually i'm just seeing a report here u.s. capitol police. u.s. capitol police the u.s. e.p.a. is clear the external security threat incident located all of the u.s. capitol campus buildings however the area around the crime scene will continue to be restricted and individuals should follow police direction so indications of the i think it's about 2 hours after that incident. has taken place after the car rammed into the security barrier the the lockdown will apply it will continue to apply to the area around the crime scene because obviously the investigation has to take place. so that's where we are so far but yes confirmation that the suspect is dead one police officer has also

been killed nothing to suggest that there is a connection between what has happened what happened on january 6th and the developments today but that will be part of the investigation as you are seeing this is an image of the car of course that rammed into the security barrier and obviously national guard troops have also been deployed in the area in response to what has taken place so yeah we'll continue to monitor reaction to this also expecting to get a response from the president joe biden so yeah we'll bring that to you as soon as it happens. but of course we've also been following some other developments today important developments i should say also in the united states a senior police officer taking to the witness stand on friday on the 5th day of the trial of derek show than richard zimmerman told the court that show vince decision to kneel on george floyd's neck was an act of deadly force chauvinist charged with killing floyd by kneeling on his neck off to arresting him is death sparked

a massive backlash across the globe with cries for america to tackle racial injustice in police brutality but he's left on it richard sentiment zimmerman has told the court that show vns use of force was totally unnecessary. in the years you've been working for the minneapolis police department. been trained to do on the neck of someone who has handcuffed behind their back proposition no i haven't. is that if that were done would that be considered force absolutely what level of force might that be. that would be the top tier the deadly force while because of. the fact. if you knew this on a person's know the can kill a. life for us in minneapolis and gay please put the significance of this if this testimony today into some context for us because this

is the longest serving police officer in the minneapolis police department saying that officer is a never never been trained to kneel on people's necks while they were handcuffed and lying on their stomachs and that this use of force is already deadly but completely unnecessary. yeah that's right this is hugely significant testimony that came here on friday in the courthouse here in minneapolis because it's very rare that you will see police officers testifying against one of their own and not only did we see that on friday we actually saw it from 2 different officers but the one that you are specif was specifically referring to lieutenant richard zimmerman with some of the most damning testimony that we've seen all week against the actions taken by officer derrick chauffeur and lieutenant zimmerman has been on the police force here in minneapolis for nearly 40 years he's one of the most senior police officers in the entire minneapolis police

department he's a homicide detective and he was called to the scene shortly after george floyd was arrested and then died and then was transferred to the hospital because it was clear that there was a potential death investigation zimmerman when he was on the stand said that the actions taken up by derek show if it were wrong and inappropriate and should not have been taken he said that officers while they do have the right to use force of course. they are trained to when they are told to stop using potential deadly force and he said that in all circumstances that see he saw here there was no justification whatsoever for the actions that derrick chauvin took against george floyd for as we know now 9 minutes and 29 seconds chauvinist need he was on

the neck of george floyd so this is incredibly incredibly strong testimony from the prosecution witness and wraps up what has been a very powerful week for the prosecution as a whole the trial started off earlier this week. with very emotional testimony from eyewitnesses many who broke down in tears as they were reliving the moments of watching george floyd die and now in the final day and a half to 2 days of this trial and particularly today on friday it wrapped up with very strong testimony from police officers here within the minneapolis police department. and of course the trial continues next week with the chief of the mini minneapolis department also expected to testify. yeah that's right. it is he is expected to testify and that will be beyond.

unprecedented if you will it almost never happens that you see a police chief called to testify against a former officer and that's exactly what we expect to happen as early as monday of next week we will point out that the defense has yet to. to call any of their witnesses so far and the defense has tried to poke holes in the prosecution witness testimony as best as they can the bottom line here and it's important to recap what the defense is going to argue they are going to argue that derek chauvelin kept his knee on george floyd's neck for so long because the scene was in unst not secure and that there were a group of. rowdy onlookers that were gathering at the scene and that and that the defense is going to argue it was not derrick chauvinist me that killed george floyd but there was drugs found within floyd's system that's something the

prosecution shushan has already said is irrelevant that he had drugs in his system and the prosecution has gone a long way this week in their view at least to present to the jury their view that actually was derek chauvinists me for more than 9 minutes that cut off blood circulation to george floyd that ultimately killed him. thank you very much gabriel elizondo following the trial there in minneapolis. at least 54 people have died in taiwan's worst rail disaster unmanned a truck rolled on to the track just as a train was approaching a tunnel in the east of the island nearly 500 people were on board and many survivors had to climb out of the wreckage the accident happened at the start of

the chain link festival when people return to ancestral villages to clean the graves of their relatives or taiwan has a vast train network with more than a 1000 kilometers of railway tracks transporting more than 200000000 passengers every year the dramatic mountainous scenery in the east makes it a popular tourist draw which means the eastern row a line is heavily used winding its way through towering mountains and deep valleys the train derailed just north of the city of haile en while traveling from taipei to thai tongue adrian brown reports. it was the rescue team scramble to reach passengers trapped in the front are accused carriages that folded into each other after coming off the rails as the train into a tunnel. this woman yells carriage for carriage for has everyone come out $350.00.