trying to help each other and trying to bea trying to help each other and trying to be a good samaritan. eric, could we go back a little bit? welcome to bbc news, broadcasting on bbc one in the uk and on bbc world news. i'm ben brown. police in london say two incidents, which have left at least one person dead and others injured, are being treated as terrorism. it swerved into pedestrians deliberately causing a number of casualties on london bridge. the occu pa nts of casualties on london bridge. the occupants of the white van getting out of the vehicle and racing through to borough market, which is nearby, carrying out knife attacks. a number of casualties, we are hearing 20 people have been taken to six different hospitals nearby, 20

casualties taken to six different hospitals. there were reports of people being thrown over london bridge as that vehicle was driven at high speed. police river patrol boats looked for casualties in the water. this is one of the cordons being set up. there will be a cobra meeting, but theresa may, the british prime minister, has already said this is a potential terrorist attack. it comes not many days after the manchester attack were 22 were killed in the explosion at the magister arena but in this attack it appears to be a number of men in that vehicle in that white van,

driving across london bridge, and then getting out of the vehicle and carrying out a knife attack. number of eyewitnesses have said they saw these men getting out of the van, many of them with knives, one in particular with a long knife. it appears that the police have apprehended one or more of the casualties, we have been seeing a picture of one of the suspects, one of the suspected assailants, lying on the ground with canisters attached to his body. earlier i spoke to robbie kittler and joshua land, who saw the white van. we were in the pub. my friend josh ordered a taxi. i left, crossed the road, got into the taxi and looked out of the window, josh has gone in

to get ourfriend. out of the window, josh has gone in to get our friend. five or ten seconds later i is the 20 or 30 people trying to run inside the pub, which i thought was rather odd, then i saw which i thought was rather odd, then isawa which i thought was rather odd, then i saw a white van speeding down the pavement and crashed into either a lamppost or a wall, not sure what. then i saw two or three males jumping out of the van and running down the road and at that point the taxi driver sped off. we didn't know what was going on, we thought a bomb might have gone off or some sort of terrorist attack, at first we thought there might have been a car accident but the restlessness of the peoplejumping accident but the restlessness of the people jumping out of the van didn't seem quite right so the taxi driver sped off down the road. from what

you could tell, what did these men look like? two to three malesjumped out of the van, they looked aggressive, i think they might have been shouting. it was quite hard to make out what was going on. at first it seemed like it could have been a car accident, someone losing control ofa van, car accident, someone losing control of a van, but the aggressiveness and speed at which the people jumped out... they jumped out speed at which the people jumped out... theyjumped out of the van and started running down the road. it was quite a horrible sight actually. did you see any of the casualties that had been caused by the vehicle? i didn't actually see anyone immediately get hit over. the taxi driver went to the other side

of the road and we saw someone who looked like he had been badly injured. ididn‘t looked like he had been badly injured. i didn't actually see the van hit anyone. perhaps i can talk to yourfriend, joshua van hit anyone. perhaps i can talk to your friend, joshua bland, van hit anyone. perhaps i can talk to yourfriend, joshua bland, who you are with that you mentioned, what did you witness? rob hasjust chatted to you, he was in the taxi crossing the road, he got in, i went back into the pub, called the barrow and banker, barrow boy and banker, i we nt and banker, barrow boy and banker, i went in forten and banker, barrow boy and banker, i went in for ten to 15 seconds to get my friend, we had just ordered the taxi, i walked outside and i can't remember whether people were running in all what, i remember there remember whether people were running in all what, i rememberthere being a bit ofa in all what, i rememberthere being a bit of a commotion and to the

right of me, and we're talking two metres away from the front of the pub entrance was this white van which had crashed into the railings just to the side. i could see that the wheels were all smashed up. it didn't look too bad. i actually thought when i saw it, ok, this sort of looks like an accident, i didn't think it was a terrorist incident at this point. like i said i came out with my friend, christian. we looked across where the uber had been and that was gone, there was no uber, the van was there, no one in the van, thenl the van was there, no one in the van, then i heard running up from the steps, right next to the barrow boardie, andl the steps, right next to the barrow boardie, and i heard them shout, he's got a knife, he's stabbing people. that's all we heard and then

we've and and my friend said to me, josh, run, call your family. we've and and my friend said to me, josh, run, call yourfamily. we ran towards london bridge station. i tried to get hold of a couple of people. i'll be honest, i didn't see anyone about. there was a bit of commotion but there wasn't a huge amount of information being disseminated between people. some we re disseminated between people. some were walking around as if it was normal, some people were panicking, particularly in the station it was as though half of the people didn't have a clue what was going on. even though i saw part of it, i still didn't know what was going on. but i definitely saw the van crash into the gated fence area. it looked a bit mangled and then i saw the guy running up, the stairs i think lead down to borough market, i heard a guy running up from those stairs and

that's when he shouted, he's got a knife, he's stabbing people. what was going through your mind, joshua, when you heard those words, he's got a nice? i'll be honest, it took me a long time to realise what was going oi'i. long time to realise what was going on. i didn't fully believe what was happening. i'd been out there ten seconds earlier with my friend with the taxi, literally went into get someone, came out the taxi, literally went into get someone, came out and i thought it didn't look too mangled sol someone, came out and i thought it didn't look too mangled so i thought it was an innocent swerve off the road at the time and it was only when i heard this guy shout he's got a knife, he's stabbing people, and to be honest i still didn't believe it. my friend shouted at me to run and to call my family. i kind of just followed him, i didn't really react too much if i'm honest. but,

yes, it was certainly strange when i walked out. there was a strange atmosphere when the van was there, you can see it and i don't think anyone knew what was going on but as soon as anyone knew what was going on but as soon as this guy shouted that, that's when people started running andl that's when people started running and i think a fair few people ended up and i think a fair few people ended up staying in the pub and i think they were there for a bit. i don't know what happened to them, i think they were all fine. we are at one of the many police cordons surrounding borough market and london bridge, we hearing that 20 casualties have been taken to half a dozen hospitals in the area. we've had a statement from the mayor of london, sadiq khan, about this attack, saying it was a deliberate and cowardly attack on innocent londoners and visitors enjoying their saturday night. i condemn it in the strong as possible terms, there is no justification whatsoever

for such barbaric acts. we've also heard from the new president of france, president macron, saying that france stands by the united kingdom now more than ever, that was a statement just kingdom now more than ever, that was a statementjust released through the french embassy in london and also president macron saying that his thoughts are with the families of the victims, as we were just saying, at least 20 people at half a dozen hospitals in this part of london. 0n the line is redmond shannon. he was a journalist on the scene shortly afterwards. he is now back home. you talked to some people who saw what happened. what did they describe to you? the one that stood out to me was a young man with three other friends on out to me was a young man with three otherfriends on a out to me was a young man with three other friends on a night out and they were basically wrapping up their night, heading home, when they came across what happened on london bridge. the young man who didn't want to

give me his name was extremely traumatised understandably. he said he saw the knife, he wasn't able to tell me what had happened, but he said he had never been so scared in his life. you could see him in his eyes how disturbed and how upset he was. he basically then walked away and couldn't talk any more. he broke down a number of points when i spoke to him. i also spoke to another witness who described the scene on the bridge and basically was caught up the bridge and basically was caught up in it right there on london bridge at the time. i have a recording and we're able to hear it right now. let's hear that interview. they were laying on the floor, we were trying to reanimate them, then we were on the guy,

people were saying to run, run, this guy took us on his car, then we saw the guide crossed the bridge and we asked this guide to drop us, he dropped us near my friend and then the police told us to run. people in the police told us to run. people in the area, they had seen what happened, pretty traumatised by what they had seen? in particular there was one other person i didn't speak to, they were far too upset, they we re to, they were far too upset, they were obviously involved on the bridge as well and i think probably about an hour after the incident, maybe just after iipm, police physically had to push him back from the scene. it appears he was on the scene and wanted to stay on the scene. he was unable to gather his thoughts, unable to do anything but scream at police and they had to scream at police and they had to scream back at him and tell him for his own safety, for his own good and

for the sake of the investigation, he needed to stay back. so some really disturbing and upsetting scenes there. as the night went on, the cordon grew, police turning people around obviously as the night got on. a lot of people on a saturday night in london were looking to get home, looking to go south across the bridge and north from the south as well, being turned around, a lot of buses and taxis ha rd to around, a lot of buses and taxis hard to get, many of them completely full because of the approaches of certain tube stations —— closures. we don't know how many casualties there have been, although we are hearing 20 have been treated. it seems there's been a large number of casualties, both from the van driven at pedestrians on london bridge and the knife attacks and around borough market? yes. when i initially got to

the scene, i could see directly down london bridge, so from monument tube station until police pushed everyone away from there but you could see right across the bridge and it's ha rd to right across the bridge and it's hard to know for sure but probably ten to 12 emergency response vehicles were there, you could see the flashing lights obviously attending to a significant number of people who were injured or worse indeed on the bridge. 0k, thank you so much forjoining us, redmond shannon, thank you so much for your time. let's go now to an account from an eyewitness of the attack, a man called gerard. he spoke to us early on about what he witnessed. i walk to london bridge, passed by nat bank, then i saw a geezer on the floor saying i've been stabbed, i looked at him, there was blood on him, someone stabbed my mate, the next thing i saw three muslim guys

run up with knives, they ran up started stabbing these girls, three of them, i couldn't do nothing, make. they attacked her, then they stabbed another guy i think if i remember rightly, i was a bit shocked, they ran up the road, i started saying everybody run, they're terrorists, there is stabbing everyone, i followed they're terrorists, there is stabbing everyone, ifollowed them went to the natwest bank towards borough market, i started running up to the tavern, they stabbed the bouncer, they were stabbing, running in all the pubs, all the bars, i can remember all of them, they were stabbing everyone, i said run, remember all of them, they were stabbing everyone, isaid run, run, throwing bottles at them, pint glasses, stalls, chairs, i try to help as many as i could but that the end of the day i was defenceless, if i had fallen over they would have killed me. you said they were stabbing, what did you see? they said this is for our and they stabbed this girl maybe ten or 15 times. they were going help me, help me, i couldn't do anything, i tried

to help, i threw something, there was a bike on the floor, i try to pick upa was a bike on the floor, i try to pick up a chair but it was locked to get them away from her but i couldn't do anything. when you look at the cctv they will see me on the cctv at borough market chasing them and throwing bottles at them and glasses, that's the only thing i could do, ijust try glasses, that's the only thing i could do, i just try to save people's lives. did they try to attack you? i did, ithrew people's lives. did they try to attack you? i did, i threw something attack you? i did, i threw something at them. are you endured? no. as i threw it at them they got hit and then they ran towards me to try to stop then they ran towards me to try to sto p sta b then they ran towards me to try to stop stab me and if i slipped over i would be dead now, i would have been killed there and then. that was an eyewitness a little earlier on. his name is gerrard. let's recap what we know as this developing story continues. so, sometime after 10 o'clock local time, a van swerved off the road at london bridge which was then closed by police.

it is believed to be a white van. a number of pedestrians were hit by the vehicle, at least one person has been killed. at least 20 were injured, being treated at half a dozen hospitals now. a police source has told the bbc they're looking for at least three suspects. not long after, there were reports of stabbings taking place at nearby borough market. armed police responded and shots have been fired. police have said that the incidents at london bridge and borough market are being treated as terrorism. we know there will be a meeting of cobra, the government emergency

committee, in the morning. the risk level was raised to critical and then reduced to severe after the manchester attacking. armed police responded after this attack. there was a picture taken of what is believed to have been one of the assa ila nts believed to have been one of the assailants on the ground having been intercepted and shot by the police. this is a man who had canisters strapped to his body. we don't know quite what those canisters were, but it is clear from that photograph there were canisters strapped to his body. this image, taken by a documentary photographer, gabriele sciotto, shows two men lying on the ground. a little earlier we spoke to the photographer gabrielle sciotto he came in after one man stabbed someone. someone he came in after one man stabbed someone. someone tried to pull me off of the scene. i actually ran

towards the scene because i noticed this man with this exposed looking belt on his chest. and, yeah, they we re belt on his chest. and, yeah, they were running. they did not even know, i guess, where they were running. a policeman tried to put himself between him and the crowd. they were coming towards me and i tried to run away. i went towards the main street. at that point i ran towards them. more police came over. but i guess they were like ready or something because in 2—5 seconds they shot all the men down. and,

yeah, so, that is what i honestly saw. and, yeah, any questions? and the man that you took the picture of, these cannisters on his body, what did you think they were? . he did not look real to me. i am not a person who can honestly say if they are real or not because i have no experience in that regard. but they look like just experience in that regard. but they look likejust a experience in that regard. but they look like just a toy to me, that is why i was not too scared. lusts, you —— you were watching the football?” saw this situation coming up and i ran saw this situation coming up and i ra n towards saw this situation coming up and i ran towards it. yeah. i wasjust looking for the truth of the situation in the scene to happen. you must have been pretty alarmed by

what you saw and what was going on all around you. i have been in situations like this before. i don't think you realise how scary it can possibly be until you put yourself into it. because, it was like, a policeman could have shot me because it was me, the police, and these three men. so, you know, iwas lucky, definitely. that is the photographer who took that picture we have been looking at. i will bring you date on the casualties. at least one person has been killed and at least 20 injured and taken to six different hospitals around here after this twin attack on london bridge and then borough market. the latest of elements. i have been speaking to the home affa i rs have been speaking to the home affairs correspondent, tom symonds.

it is important to understand the geography. london bridge runs from the city across the river to a very busy area of london to be i come here a lot for reporting. london bridge station is one of the busiest stations in the country, somewhere people go to head home from the pub. 0n the corner is an area where there are 0n the corner is an area where there a re cafes, 0n the corner is an area where there are cafes, daytime food stalls, in borough market. we understand from eyewitnesses, and clearly we have to have a helpful warning, eyewitnesses sometimes think they have seen something and describe things in ways that are not entirely accurate. but they seem to be saying there was a white van crashing into pedestrians at the southern end of the bridge, outside a pub on the southern end of a bridge, 2—3—4 man getting out of the car and attacking people with knives near where the collision happened and running down

near the corner into the borough market area. in that area are lots of pubs and restaurants. i spoke to a witness who runs security for a number of establishments in the area. he said he was getting reports by phone of people being stabbed in the cafes. it took a bit of time to develop. people were stabbed. then there were phone calls made. then he went out and saw people being attacked in front of his eyes. he was deeply shaken up. he saw a woman in her early 20s stabbed severely and go to the ground injured. he described one of the attackers having what looks like canisters on his body. we have seen a picture from a photographer that suggests that was a good idea of what happened. shots were fired, we are not sure about that. police have said nothing about the shooting. that is important. we need to understand why that is. it suggests to me that we need to figure out

what exactly the shots were fired for before we get a statement of what the outcome was, how many attackers there were, and so on. the other key information is even a rough idea of the number of people killed in this incident, the number of injuries. as you said then, hospitals, the major trauma units of london, they are very well used to dealing with this sort of thing. they will be undergoing full procedures for dealing with things like this. a lot going on to the police are still monitoring the scene. sounds 0f police are still monitoring the scene. sounds of helicopter.” police are still monitoring the scene. sounds of helicopter. i can here a helicopter. yes. it does look like it is not continuing. there are some false alarms around the place. incidents that are not linked to

this but just happen incidents that are not linked to this butjust happen to be happening ona this butjust happen to be happening on a busy night in london. also, controlled explosions. police have not confirmed this, but there were some bangs near the bridge, likely bags dropped during the incident, just making sure there's nothing nasty in them. the cobra committee will meet later today. and the terror threat level, of course, was raised after the manchester attack and the previous one before that, too severe, then to critical. yeah. they look at what the security services say and give an independent view as to what the government should do. it is the decision of the government in the end, but they generally accept advice of security a nalysts. generally accept advice of security analysts. after the manchester attack, they said you need to go to

critical, the highest in the five level system introduced since 2006, only the third time that level has been reached, meaning an attack was imminent. after an understanding was gathered of the manchester event, it was dropped to severe. if police are concerned this may be linked to future attacks, another imminent one, it is likely it will go back up to critical. it will be up to the government based on advice from security analyst look at all the information coming in. tom, obviously we have had the westminster attack, the manchester attack, and they have all been different in many ways. the first and the third are similar in obvious respects. a car attack followed by a knife attack. in this case we have a conspiracy, several men appearing in eyewitness accounts planning together. the first one masoud, was

on his own, a lone wolf, difficult to detect. the manchester arena bombing was entirely different. salman abedi went to libya and came back to manchester shortly before the bombing and rented various flats, posisbly constructing his device in them. that is different. the first and third look different but similar together. two weeks later, another attempt to kill and maim the london underground after the 7/7 bombings. luckily, that did not happen. the police are moving forward in this. security services have to be aware of this attack spawning others. there was a lot of

praise for security services. they talked about all of the plots they had 7/7 bombings. talked about all of the plots they had 7” bombings. but there are 3000 people they have to keep tabs on who could be plotting as we speak. there are not unlimited resources to follow these people. it takes two dozen, possibly three dozen people, occasionally, to follow one person around the country to seven. resources are not there. they have to make decisions. it is difficult. a plot like this appears to be quite basic, hire a van and get weapons and let's do this. it does not take long to carry out. if they are not people police are aware of, there identities, in advance, it becomes very difficult. 0ne identities, in advance, it becomes very difficult. one other incident almost got missed in what has gone

on in the last two months. there was a man arrested almost outside downing street with a bagful of knives. the theory is he was under surveillance. police wanted as much evidence of what he was intending to do and arrested him. that goes to show how decisions taken by security services can be difficult and split second and have life and death at sta ke. second and have life and death at stake. police will be very clear they will be getting identities of these men and finding out who they may be connected with two reassure the security system that there is not something is planned. that is a key thing for the government to understand. armed police were on the scene so understand. armed police were on the scene so quickly. but obviously because of the heightened state of terror alert, it was critical and brought down, even so, a lot more armed people on the streets of central london. there is a piece of information missing. we are not clear when the first offices arrived

at the scene. the nearest would have been british transport police over the road. they do have some armed officer is. there is likely to be some armed officer is on the station at the time. clearly a potential terrorist target, that station. 0ne eyewitness i spoke to say he did not see any police officer is. we have not managed to work out the timing of when shots may have been fired. that is eight he thing we want to hear from the police, that is eight he thing we want to hearfrom the police, what that is eight he thing we want to hear from the police, what the response was. “— hear from the police, what the response was. —— a key. i was briefed by some journalists about the preparations. they have firearms offences they can call on, notjust the metropolitan police, but all across the country. the constabulary. and they have a higher level of training. series weaponry capable of