the last few minutes. lives —— us in the last few minutes. at least 20 people have been injured and they are being treated in six hospitals in the london bridge area. hello. this is bbc news, with special coverage from the police cordon in central london, close to london bridge and borough market where there has been a terror attack in there has been a terror attack in the last three hours, the latest terror attack to hit the united kingdom a few days after the bomb attack at the magister arena that left 22 killed. —— magister arena. —— manchester arena. we know that six people have been killed and this is what we know so far: just after 10pm local time a white van swerved

into pedestrians on london bridge, they were hit by the vehicle. at least six dead and multiple injured. there were at least three attackers involved. witnesses talk about three men getting out of the white van after it crashed at the end of london bridge and running with knives and stabbings taking place at nearby borough market. armed police responded, shots were fired, one eyewitness said a number of shots we re eyewitness said a number of shots were fired in quick succession. police said the incidents at borough market and london bridge are being treated as terrorism. let's recap the police statement we have heard in the last few minutes from the metropolitan police. the metropolitan police has been responding to incidents in london

bridge and borough market areas of london. we're treating this as a terrorist incident and they pulled investigation is under way led by london's counterterrorism command. you understand our knowledge of the incident is still growing but at the moment what we understand is as follows. at 10:08pm last night we began to receive reports a vehicle had struck pedestrians on london bridge. the vehicle continued to drive them from london bridge to borough market. the suspects left the vehicle, attempting to stay number of people, including an on duty british transport police officer who was responding to the incident and he risk received serious injuries, fortunately not life—threatening. his family has been informed. armed response officers then responded very quickly and bravely and confronted the three male suspects, who were shot and killed in borough market. the suspects had been confronted and shot by police within eight minutes

of the first call. the suspects were wearing what looked like an explosive vests, but these were later established to be hoaxes. the ongoing operation is led by the met, working closely with british transport police, city of london police and london's ambulance and transport services. at this stage we believe sadly six people have died in addition to the three attackers shot by police, and there are at least 20 casualties taken to six hospitals across london, but numbers are still rising. i'd like to repeat oui’ are still rising. i'd like to repeat our request for londoners to avoid the areas of london bridge and borough market to enable the emergency services to continue this operation. this investigation as i said is led by the counterterrorism command and we'd ask for help from the public in the for running way, anyone who's got any images or film from the incident tonight, perhaps people in the area, can help by

uploading it to www. you—k police that we did on various newsfeeds. of course our thoughts are with those who are involved and those concerned about loved ones in the area, they should contract our casualties bureau open on oh 800 of 961233. if you're worried about someone 961233. if you're worried about someone in the area, zero 800, 0961, 233. looking forward we are reviewing our plans for policing sta nce reviewing our plans for policing stance across london and over forthcoming days people can expect to see more police resources across the capital. finally i would ask the public to be vigilant and contact the police if they've got any concerns. assistant commissioner, can you tell us is this incident completely over now? our current belief is that there were three attackers, but this is early on, so we've still got some enquiries to work through to be completely

confident about that. there were three attackers in the vehicle, so the attackers in the vehicle have all been killed? this is a protracted incident that starts on the bridge and finishes in borough market and we believe three people we re market and we believe three people were involved but we've got more enquiries to do to be 100% confident in that. can you tell us more about the attacks and where people were being killed? you're asking for a lot of detail there, we're still getting to the bottom of what's gone on, the number of casualties and it is still a complex scene, as you've understood from what i've said, we are still dealing with the fact that at one stage there was believed to be exposes but that's now been ruled out. can you tell us a bit more about the people involved in the operation to bring down these terrorists? the public will be aware we have strengthened our armed policing presence across london in recent yea rs, policing presence across london in recent years, we got more armed was once vehicles to hand and it's those armed response vehicles out driving around london day in day out to protect the public, they responded quickly and bravely confronted these

three individuals, shot them and they are dead. assista nt assistant commissioner mark rowley of the metropolitan police with that statement a few minutes ago. to summarise what he was saying, they fear at least six people have lost their lives in this terror attack, it was carried out by three men who we re it was carried out by three men who were then subsequently after that vehicle attack on london bridge and the knife attack at borough market that they carried out, they were then shot dead by the police. they are saying armed response police units arrived and shot them dead within eight minutes of the initial call. the initial calls about the attack on london bridge came through attack on london bridge came through at 10:08pm local time here in london. among those injured we were hearing from the assistant commissioner was a british transport police officer who was injured, although not suffering life—threatening injuries. that was

one of the casualties, a british transport police officer. armed response teams then shot and killed the three suspects, the three assailants, who were wearing what appeared to be explosive vests of some kind but were actually hoax explosive vests. we saw one picture of one of the dead suspects lying on the ground with what appeared to be canisters strapped to his body, so that was described by the assistant commissioner as a hoax explosive vest. let's get more from andy moore. just after 10pm on the busy streets of london, police are responding to reports of an ongoing serious incident. what the hell is happening?‘

what the hell is happening? a white van has driven into pedestrians on london bridge. when it stopped its rear doors were flung open and several men ran out. they went into the busy pubs and restau ra nts they went into the busy pubs and restaurants around borough market stabbing people. they were running up stabbing people. they were running up going this is for allah, when we first saw them they say this is for allah and they stabbed this girl i don't know how many times, ten times, 15 times, she was going help me, help me, and i couldn't do nothing. this is the scene as armed police entered one bar. they need to know immediately if the attackers are still there. as people fled the area, they were told to put their hands on their heads, again in a confused situation police need to tell the attackers from their victims. this is one of the latest images from the scene. it shows a

man apparently immobile on the ground with canisters around his waist. in the background there appear to be other bodies. it's not known how many attackers there were and what has happened to them. the london ambulance service says at least 20 casualties have been taken to six different hospitals. the mayor of london sadiq khan called the attacks barbaric and horrific. andy moore, bbc news. these attacks following the westminster attack, a van driven into a police officer, then in manchester on the bombing that left 22 dead, then the latest attack at london bridge and borough market, which said as killed six people and

the assailants shot dead by the police. london ambulance are telling us police. london ambulance are telling us that more than 30 people have been taken to hospital. we were reporting 20 people at least taken to six hospitals but london ambulance now saying that more than 30 casualties taken to various hospitals from the london bridge area where the attacks happened. i have also been talking to another eyewitness who saw what happened shortly after 10pm. let's go now to vilwar hussain. i was actually on my way home before i was heading to the mosque for evening prayers. i was at monument station, at the junction there, and i saw the vehicle had crossed from the south side of london bridge onto the northside and it's begun to do a vehicle u—turn back on to london bridge so that initially caught my attention because you're not allowed to do a u—turn there so when he began to do a u—turn and there it caught my attention. the van was a few vehicles in front of me so i came on to london bridge

after he did. once he got on to london bridge he came onto the pavement, ran people over, went on to the road and within a fraction of a second went onto the pavement again, ran over more people and then he onto the barriers in front of southwark cathedral. the van... you were very close, as you were saying, very close to the van and it was being driven at what sort of speed would you say? something around a0 mph to 50 mph, could have been more than that. initially when i saw the van i thought it was a drunk driver. i think you took some pictures, some video of the van. describe what you filmed? once the van had crossed the pavement where it was driving at the time, the men began to get out of the vehicles and at that point i stopped beside one

of the casualties on the bridge, the person was completely unconscious and wasn't breathing at the time. i saw people had already attended to him. there were about four serious casualties on the bridge. then i went towards the van to see what was going on there. when i got to the van i saw the doors were open and i saw several all open bottles of alcohol. whoever was driving at the time jumped down towards the borough market down the steps and i noticed that there were another three casualties at a restaurant. how many casualties do you think were caused by the van hitting people as it was being driven across london bridge? how many do you think it hit? there were four people. definitely more people were hit but i saw four people on the ground unconscious.

then i saw another three people who had been stabbed in front of southwark cathedral. what is going through your mind now, you were so close to this attack? i'm really shocked. what shocked me the most, what happened after that. as soon as the incident happened at 10:07pm i called the police and i was speaking to the police saying i went to the van. armed officers were there right by the scene and the police began to evacuate the area and one of the officers asked me to return to my vehicle and evacuate the area. when i got into my car i tried to drive away but the police had already cordoned off the area, that's when i got out of my vehicle

and within a minute or so i heard two shots being fired. at that point i was on london bridge road. that's behind the station. maybe 30 seconds after hearing the gunshots fired i saw the police carrying another police officer who had been shot and they were carrying the officer towards me on london bridge road. so from what you understand that was a police officer who had been shot? he was wearing a police jacket. he had a badge on the jacket as well. i saw police officers carrying him to guy's hospital and i'm sure he's a police officer because someone was shouting one of your officers has been shot. and so in terms of how long the whole incident took, how many minutes would you say from when you first noticed that

white van doing the u—turn that caught your attention to the end? how long was that time period? it wouldn't be more than two minutes. you think a large number of casualties were caused by the attack. ijust want i just want to show you where we are at this police cordoned close to where it happened that london bridge and borough market. you can see the shard now as it begins to light up here now. it is lit up. we are in the shadow really of that enormously high building. and now nick

quraishi. bring us up—to—date. high building. and now nick quraishi. bring us up-to-date. we heard from mark rowley from scotland yard. six people have died in these attacks. there were three attackers. they have been shot dead. when asked what he confident there were three and no more, he said he believes there are three, and does not think any more, but of course investigations have to continue. behind us, when i arrived here several hours ago, there were flashing blue light, intense police activity. vans coming and going. now we cannot see any blue lights. it suggests that the situation has finished. now the investigation must begin. six people are dead and 20 in hospital, at least 20, being treated

at six hospitals across london. others have been treated as walking wounded. the assistant commissioner was also saying the three men, three suspected attackers, had what appeared to be explosive vests tied to their bodies, but they turned out to their bodies, but they turned out to bea to their bodies, but they turned out to be a hoax. he will have seen the pictures we have shown through the evening of one man on the ground who appeared to have canisters on him. that was one explanation. there was also another gentleman near him. quite a fast—moving investigation. they were called in at eight past ten to the van on the bridge. it is fast—moving we are trying to put it together. it was suggested three people came out of the van and

attacked people on the bridge and came down to borough market, which is close. police are trying to piece together the situation. they are treating it as a terrorist attack, attacks, there were multiple. theresa may will chair a cobra meeting tomorrow, the emergency meeting. jeremy corbyn, the labour leader, called the brutal attack. sadiq khan, the mayor of london, called this barbaric. in terms of the numbers of casualties, six dead, as you were saying, and three separate to that, the three separate attackers, all shot dead. police we re attackers, all shot dead. police were saying that that shooting dead of them happened very quickly after they got the initial call. they did

indeed, it was very quick. it all took place eight minutes after the first call at 10:08, meaning they we re first call at 10:08, meaning they were shot at 16 minutes past ten. very fast—moving. one of the first on the scene was a british transport police officer, one of those stabbed, and seriously injured, though the met says not lifethreatening. it is a serious what happens tonight. more than one attack. two crime scenes. what we get when something like this happens is reports of other things happening. there was talk of an incident in vauxhall, not far away. police later established it was a stabbing yet unconnected to the terrorist attack. you get a flurry of different things going on loosely connected. information comes in thick and fast. it is quite difficult to establish what is fact with what people genuinely see. the

wider perspective. the westminster attacks not so long ago, again, a vehicle driven across westminster bridge and a knife attack. then the manchester bombing just a few days ago. then the metropolitan police are saying there will be additional police officers deployed across the capital over the forthcoming days, not surprisingly, perhaps, in the wa ke not surprisingly, perhaps, in the wake of this dangerous attack. yes. it was only last week, last monday, the manchester attack, the threat level was increased and reduced again last saturday. i think that was because police and security services had established that it was raised because they were not sure what links the manchester bomb had with other possible networks. then it was established that the police we re it was established that the police were confident and had people who we re

were confident and had people who were may be connected. the threat level was reduced from critical. who knows now. security analysts and terrorism experts will suggest whether it should remain up. it was the third time after the manchester attacks it had been increased to critical. the first time was 2006, then 2007, albeit, only for days. who knows. this happened at ten o'clock. six hours ago now. it is still in its early stages. obviously, investigations will continue, in fact, obviously, investigations will continue, infact, begin, to see where we stand. the mayor of london, sadiq khan, among many people, condemning this attack, saying it was an attack on innocent people, londoners, and visitors to the capitaljust going londoners, and visitors to the capital just going about londoners, and visitors to the capitaljust going about their saturday evening. a saturday evening ina saturday evening. a saturday evening

in a very, very busy part of london anyway. when i arrived, police were shouting, if you like a mad people. some people —— like, at people. some we re some people —— like, at people. some were oblivious. many would not have known. some people were enjoying a saturday night drink unaware of what happened. people were shouting at them to make the move. that is the scene them to make the move. that is the scene that greeted me when i arrived here a few hours ago. also, cars and va ns we re here a few hours ago. also, cars and vans were coming. a difference in the what it is now. i think the assistant commissioner has come out now saying six dead and at least 20 injured. three attackers shot dead. that signifies seemingly that the initial threat is over. obviously, there are always big events in the capital that require policing. there

will be at the offices deployed as we have been hearing. yes. -- extra officers. the manchester attack was the first big attack in an election campaign ever. what happens now? many questions are going to have to be asked. indeed. thank you, nick quraishi, for the latest details on these terrible terrorist attacks that where on london bridge, at eight minutes past ten, local time, we are now hearing, and then at borough market a few minutes after, with what appears to be three men who drove their van at people on the bridge and jumped out and started attacking people with knives. the latest from the metropolitan police

is that six people have lost their lives. more than 20 have been injured. the london ambulance service have told us 30 people were taken to six different hospitals in the area. one of those was a british transport police man who tried to apprehend the attackers with nonlifethreatening injuries though severely injured. those three were shot dead within 15 minutes of the first call. we will speak to someone who spoke to a number of eyewitnesses shortly after it happened. redmond. his friends were getting together. there was one man who was extremely

traumatised. he was not able to tell me, did not want to tell me, what he saw happen. but he said he has never been so scared in his life. you could see in his eyes how disturbed and how upset he was. he basically then walked away and could not talk any more. he broke down at a number of points when i spoke to him. i also spoke to another witness who described the scene on the bridge. basically, he was caught up on it on the bridge at the time. we will hear that interview. they were laying on the floor and people were trying to reanimate them. then this guide told us reanimate them. then this guide told us to run, run. he took it on his

car. we crossed the bridge. he dropped us, me and my friend. and the police told us to run. obviously, people in the area who had seen what happened, they were pretty traumatised by what they had seen. pretty traumatised by what they had seen. yeah. in particular, there was one other person who was far too upset. they were obviously involved and on the bridge as well. it was about an hour after the incident happened. just after 11 o'clock. police had to physically push him back from the scene. it appears he was on the scene and wanted to stay on it. he was in tears, unable to gather his thoughts, unable to do anything but scream a police. they had to scream back at him and tell him it was for his own good and the good of the investigation. it was a

really upsetting and disturbing scene. really upsetting and disturbing scene. as the night went on, the cordon grew. police were turning people around as the night went on. a lot of people in saturday night london were trying to get across the bridge and were being turned around. are a lot of buses, many completely fall because of the closure of tube stations. —— there were many com pletely stations. —— there were many completely full buses. we are hearing at least 20 people have been injured. a large number of casualties, both from the van being driven out pedestrians on london bridge and then the knife attacks around borough market. yes. and when i initially got to be seen, i could see i initially got to be seen, i could see directly down london bridge. ——

to the scene. so, from monument tube station. that was until police pushed the ball away from there. it was hard to know for sure. you could see was hard to know for sure. you could see flashing lights attending to a significant number of people being helped. a statement from amber rudd, the home secretary. my my thoughts are with the victims and all those affected. i am extremely proud of and thankful for the police who responded so quickly and those who responded so quickly and those who work tirelessly into the investigation into these appalling acts. that was home secretary amber rudd. this is footage from a dashcam. you

can see this is footage from a dashcam. you can see to the left a white van, the white van, that it is believed was involved in the attack on london bridge. it was swerving into pedestrians, driving at around 50 miles per hour, we are hearing from eyewitnesses, straight into pedestrians and passers—by to be three men in that band apparently got out as it crashed at the end of london bridge. —— three men in the van. those three later on, not long after, were shot dead by armed police. the initial call to the police. the initial call to the police came through at eight minutes past ten london time. and then within eight minutes, according to the police, they had shot and killed those three suspected assailants. we will get this statement from the assistant metropolitan police commissioner mark rowley.

all at a wee treat this as a terrorist incident and an investigation is already under way. our knowledge of the incident is still growing but at the moment what we understand this follows — at eight minutes past ten last night began to receive reports that a vehicle had struck pedestrians on london bridge. the vehicle continued to drive from london bridge to borough market. the suspects left the vehicle, attempting to stab a number of people including an on duty british transport police officer who was responding. he received serious injuries, fortu nately received serious injuries, fortunately not life—threatening. his family have been informed. officers then responded bravely and quickly