also services on the scene. we have also heard from local mp and leader of the labour party, jeremy corbyn, calling this a terrible incident. you were watching bbc news. welcome to bbc world news, we're going straight to some breaking news now. a number of people have been injured in north london after a vehicle collided with pedestrians. the muslim council of britain has said that worshippers were hit by a van as they left prayers at the finsbury park mosque. one eye—witness has told the bbc that at least three people were seriously injured. earlier, the metropolitan police issued this statement. it said — police were called just after 0020hrs local time on the 19 june to reports of a vehicle in collision with pedestrians. officers are on scene with other emergency services. there are a number of casualties being worked on at the scene. there has been one person arrested. enquiries continue. london ambulance has issued this statement:

we heard from an eyewitness saying that whoever it was was amongst the crowd and that this person push the person towards the police and said they should be arrested. london ambulance has issued this statement: "we have sent a number of ambulance crews, advance paramedics and specialist responses teams to the scene. an advance trauma team from london's air ambulance has also been dispatched by car." that was around a quad bus midnight london time but as you can see from the live pictures, it is ongoing —— 1215. the junction the live pictures, it is ongoing —— 1215. thejunction is blocked off by police and a large crowd gathered. our reporterjane—frances kelly is at the scene. behind this gordon is the white van.

the driver of the van went down seven sisters road and that he deliberately, they say he deliberately, they say he deliberately mounted the pavement and went into a group of people who we re and went into a group of people who were tending to a man who collapsed onto the floor. they were in identifiably muslim clothing. many eyewitnesses are around here believe it was a deliberate attack. there are two mosques in the vicinity. there is the finsbury park mosque and the abu hamza. they would have been a huge number of people attending the mosques because it is last prayers and because it is ramadan. you can get a sense of the huge

crowds from the pictures we are bringing you live from north london. despite it being 11am, a large crowd is out on the street. the road is blocked off by police. we have been getting lots of eyewitness accounts through the night. cynthia vanzella also lives in the finsbury park area and has also been telling me about what she has been witnessing. when i went to the window from my bedroom it had already happened. i was in bed and i started to hear a lot of shouting outside. seven sisters road is incredibly noisy, so that is nothing new. but when the shouting got louder and louder i went to have a look at what was going on in the access road across my block of flats, with many people gathered outside. i don't have a good idea of numbers, possibly 200 people? many, many people,

enough to block at least half of seven sisters road. as well as the access road. they were nervous and shouting very loud. there was no fighting at all. ididn't i didn't see a fight, at least. they were nervous and shouting and i could see that they were waving. later on i found out they were waving at a police car stuck in traffic further down. and in a matter of seconds the police car came here, stopped by them and then theyjust dragged someone, pushed someone towards the police. very nervously, "take him, take him!" and then the police put this man inside the car. so to be clear, the crowd, in essence, offered up this person to the police? is that right? yes. there were very nervously pushing him towards the police, telling the police officer who was confused, they did not know what had happened,

so they were telling the police officers to take him, take him. so i understood that... i just found out later on there was a car running people over. i did not see what actually happened. when you say the crowd, am i right in thinking that these are people who would have been attending finsbury park mosque? i think so, because the mosque is around the next corner and they usually gather in this corner where they meet after the prayers. just to talk for a bit, i guess. especially now it is some are so it is hot and it is ramadan as well. so they stay later, i guess. so there were more people gathered in the corner. they were the ones handing

him over to police. in terms of casualties, could you see how many people had been hurt and injured? i saw at least three or four injured people on the pavement, being treated and held by police from my point of view there is the police van blocking my view, i saw it least two people on the floor. they were giving them cardiac massage until the ambulance arrived. it looked really bad but i hope they're fine. an incredibly distressing sight to witness, cynthia. what can you see now in terms of the police operation? the situation is pretty calm now.

there are many, many police cars here still. i can't see if there are any ambulances left. there are still many police cars, the area is isolated and the road is completely closed so there is no traffic. there are at least, from what i can see... 15 police cars? maybe more. i can see police walking around, talking to people, probably trying to get witnesses, i guess. so there's no shouting any more. the helicopter is still flying above. what happened to the man who was offered up by the crowd to the police? as you say, they asked him to arrest him. what happened to that man? i think he was taken by the police. i did not really see that there was so, so many people.

because i am in a window in a flat on the other side of the road, i could see many heads together, quite nervously. and, then, someone entered the police car but i could not see their face or anything. a few minutes later i saw, i think, someone posted on twitter, footage, because so many people filming with their phones, their mobile phones. i didn't go downstairs because i was a bit scared. i was just watching from a window. i think one of them posted it on twitter and you can see the man's face clearly and he said that that man had run over people with his car. that is all i know, actually, from what happened. so you heard that from someone down on the street, cynthia? no. i heard that from somebody who posted it on the internet. so i saw the scene,

but from faraway, this man had exactly the same thing, but the footage was taken from the middle of the crowd. you are looking at live pictures from north london near to where this incident happened. the metropolitan police describe it as a vehicle colliding with pedestrians but eyewitnesses, the people down there, are speaking of this being a deliberate attack on those leaving a mosque after even impress. —— even in prayers. the counterterrorism police officers are reported to have joined the police. an indication of where this investigation is going. that will certainly chime in with the sentiment and the mood of the crowd down there that you can see in the

live pictures. lots of people speaking about this being a terrorist attack, that being therapy —— opinion. this is a line from a colleague nick robinson who spoke to someone colleague nick robinson who spoke to someone down there. "it is terrorism, just like the attack on westminster bridge." that is clearly the feeling down there. now the guardian newspaper are reporting that counterterrorism officers are involved. a sense this is a major incident is clear. we are getting reaction from the prime minister theresa may from downing street. she has released this statement saying... theresa may, the british prime minister. also reaction from the opposition leaderjeremy corbyn. he is our local mp. as well. —— he is

the local mp. you can see live pictures of the police cordon never seven sisters road. suddenly allowed banks. came outside and we saw two guys in front and he was off his face,. after that, people on the floor, people running left and right, chaos. as he hit the people, one of them ran out and the police came quick. thank god for the police, they came quick as they handed two. one is on the run or

maybe they caught him. he looked straight towards muslims. maybe they caught him. he looked straight towards muslimsm basically drove on the pavement coming straight towards all the muslims. as he comes to them, he hit all of them and i think one of them died. another are all of them and i think one of them died. anotherare in bad all of them and i think one of them died. another are in bad condition. looking at earlier pictures and fabian and muhamed were referring to. this big police response. interestingly, they say they thought they might have been to people, two men, in that band. the line we are getting from so many people down there, the sense this was a deliberate, targeted attack against muslims in the finsbury park area, targeting worshippers as they came out even in prayers. —— evening.

they say they believe one person died and many more injured. let's hear from died and many more injured. let's hearfrom a died and many more injured. let's hear from a man who arrived at the scene shortly after the incident happened. it was about 01:10 this morning, i was coming from the shops. and i saw a large crowd of peole on the pavement. i learned after that a van was standing out by the traffic lights was the van that mowed the people down. a lot of people believe that the driver who was driving the van may have thought that could have been the entrance of the mosque but as you can see, the mosque is further up. it's a family who have been living there and the people who have been living there, i believe there is a fatality with them. some of the children or whoever is there got hurt also. just to give you a sense of their geography as you look at live pictures coming from north london,

this is a densely, tightly packed heart of the capital ritchie. —— capital city. they are crowded at the best of times but they would have been really rather busy as worshippers came out of evening press. the van was driven towards people. it is about 415 local time. a police cordon near seven sisters road blocking off where the incident happened. a vehicle colliding with people. we know that the guardian newspaper reported counterterrorism officers are now investigating this. we will look at some earlier pictures. you can see it is a bit darker and you can see some men praying they are in the area. earlier, we spoke to someone from the ramadan foundation is an a lot

of shocked and upset is there in the community and also appealing for calm. this is not a time for division. so many communities in so many parts of the uk have been affected by attacks like this one appears to be. in london, westminster bridge, borough market, manchester and now, it seems, near finsbury park mosque. what looks like an attack, targeting the muslim community in that part of north london. pictures recorded earlier of people praying and also pictures of the police response. earlier, i spoke tojermainjackman who was at the scene of the incident and i ask him what he saw. soi so i was on my way home from a show, andi so i was on my way home from a show, and ijust so i was on my way home from a show, and i just saw a so i was on my way home from a show, and ijust saw a number of police officers running in one direction. i ignored it. iwent officers running in one direction. i ignored it. i went home, started officers running in one direction. i ignored it. iwent home, started my

dinner, and then i went on — i saw there was an attack. so i ran out of my house to see what was happening and it was cordoned off, and i started to speak to a couple of people around here. the atmosphere is still a bit hostile. i think a lot of the anger is coming from and a lot of the muslim men and women seeing that venues are not reporting it as seeing that venues are not reporting itasa seeing that venues are not reporting it as a terrorist attack. they want it as a terrorist attack. they want it reported as a terrorist attack. i've seen ambulances, a number of ambulances, about 507 ambulance bands, and men in suits walking in. i've spoken to one of my local councillors who was on the phone to jeremy corbyn, who's now been informed of it. he lives in the local area as well. i'm a local resident here, and it really brings home how close these things can happen to you. i'm here to say, let's call a spade a spade. i believe it was a terrorist attack. a

white male ran over people. i also heard from eyewitnesses he jumped out of the car, tried to stab people. i also heard there were three people and just one. as time comes on, the image will become a lot clearer on just what happened here. jermaine, i guess you have your opinion. what we have to be careful of is its only two or three hours since this incident happened and we are still trying to work out the facts of exactly what happened. did you see the casualties, the people that have been injured, among the crowd? i've seen some of the videos online, which i think they should be removed anyway, and it's disgusting. definitely, definitely severe casualties. some dangerous injuries. i don't want to say there's any deaths, and i don't know if that's been confirmed yet, but i wouldn't be surprised, because it was a van that mounted the pavement

as men and women were leaving the mosque to go home to their families and friends and loved ones, and they we re and friends and loved ones, and they were mowed down by a van, so i wouldn't be surprised if there were some fertility is, but i'm just speaking for many eyewitnesses, and i spoke to a young man who said he was trying to get through to his niece, and he can't get through to her since the attack, can't get through to her. jermaine, for our viewers around the world, the tyne here is just viewers around the world, the tyne here isjust gone viewers around the world, the tyne here is just gone three o'clock in the morning. —— the time. this happened just after midnight. but it was very busy, wasn't it? because worshippers were leaving evening prayers. can you give us a sense of how many people were out there, and the types of people, families, young, old ? the types of people, families, young, old? there's two mosques in the space of 50 metres of one another, so you can imagine the congregations are into the hundreds. loads of people out at this time

walking home with their young ones, their brothers, siblings and pa rents. their brothers, siblings and parents. walking home, isaw their brothers, siblings and parents. walking home, i saw earlier on an elderly man who was knocked down. a horrific scene. you can imagine the streets were full of people walking home from mosque. it was well thought through. the person who did this knew what he was doing, knew what time to commit this crime. we are looking at live pictures from north london and we can see the crowds there out on the streets. you mentioned earlier that there was a feeling of hostility. could you just expand on that in terms of what you directly saw and heard? expand on that in terms of what you directly saw and heard ?|j expand on that in terms of what you directly saw and heard? i get a sense of anger in the air. anger from the police, no information, and i understand this just happened, there's got to be tyne for information to come out, but most of the anger was targeted towards the

reporters who kept coming with their cameras, started pushing their cameras, started pushing their cameras in, and that invasion of river city, that line was crossed. a lot of them had to have an argument with a lot of the people — i don't wa nt to with a lot of the people — i don't want to be recorded, i don't want to do interviews at all. and a lot of people are angry about the reporting on it. no one is reporting what it is. a lot of people believe it should be called a terrorist attack. we've just seen about ten minutes ago a male was tackled to the ground by police. i don't know if you saw that. and he's now been driven away. i don't know if that had anything to do with it but it was right in the middle of the crowd. jermaine, as this is only a few hours old, i wonder, how is information getting out down there? how is the crowd learning about what's happened? even though it's only a few streets away,

i know in these situations it's sometimes hard to get the facts out in terms of how many have been injured. absolutely, and i hear what you're trying to say. it's through the eyewitnesses. because it's so fresh, they are still coming out of the cordoned off area, people coming out of the mosque. the police are allowing people to come out and we are hearing eyewitness accounts from them. people are saying the van turned onto the pavement and was speeding down the road, so people are now coming out saying, yes, we saw this, we heard this, we heard a loud crash, we saw the man get arrested. videos online are circulating showing the man get arrested. but i want to reiterate, let's just call what it is. i understand that information is still coming out but, if this was the westminster attack or the london bridge attack, you would call what it was straightaway. let's call it is. is that the mood you are getting

from people down there, that this was a deliberate attack? absolutely, targeting the muslim community here, knowing there's two mosques so close together in finsbury park in north london, and the exact time to commit this crime by mounting the pavement and mowing down people. this was a crime to instilfear and mowing down people. this was a crime to instil fear into the community that he's done the absolute opposite because already people are coming out with food and water because some of the muslim men and women are about to start their fasting again, so they need to drink some water, because they are going through this emotional stress, seeing their fellow worshippers run down on the pavement. coming out from a holy place, walking out onto the pavement, and seeing something like this... it's really hard—hitting like this... it's really ha rd—hitting when you like this... it's really hard—hitting when you see something like this, westminster bridge, london bridge or manchester, and then you see it on your street, just

two minutes from my house. i had some chicken, some late dinner, and iran some chicken, some late dinner, and i ran out of my house to see what help i could offer and what information i could get. as you say, there have been so many incidents in london over the last four weeks, haven't there? jermaine, stay with us, because a line that's come into us us, because a line that's come into us from the london evening standard is that a man lept out from a van and stabbed at least one person. i know you weren't there at the time that you seem to have been speaking toa that you seem to have been speaking to a lot of people. is that something you've heard down there? can you give any more information on exactly what happened ? can you give any more information on exactly what happened? just the same thing. we need to be careful with the information we are giving out. i've heard from people that a man left a van to stab people. i've also heard there were three people and two ran off while one was arrested. so there's a lot of facts and figures and alternative facts circulate in the air, so i think

let's just give it time and see what actually happened. but what i can tell you is that people are angry, very angry, that their community, their brothers and sisters, their fellow worshippers were targeted, and they feel they are being misrepresented by the media already. i don't want to name any names but we are seeing on other news outlets calling it a car collision or a meisner incident. let's call it what it is -- meisner incident. let's call it what it is ——a meisner incident. let's call it what it is —— a minor incident. if you turn on to live images and ucb put arguing, shouting at one another, it's because they are angry —— you see people arguing. in fairness, what we have two say is that, when initial reports come in, and when you refer to a vehicle collision, thatis you refer to a vehicle collision, that is a phrase that came from the metropolitan police, because of course we hear about incidents all the time, but actually very few of them turn out into major things like

this, but you don't really know what's going on, so i think that expression, a collision with a vehicle came from the metropolitan police while they are still investigating it. now, of course, we are starting to get more details that are making this look much more serious, as you say. jermaine, another line we are getting is from the sun newspaper, reporting that two worshippers are feared dead. is that something you've heard down there? that's the last newspaper i'd be reading right now! but i have heard stories of people definitely... i've heard stories of fatalities. i've heard that people have died. and it'sjust sad, it really is sad. so ijust, i'm just hoping and praying that everyone can pull through. i don't know if you

quys pull through. i don't know if you guys can hear that in the background there is another man's shouting at a reporter, and there's a lot of hostility, again, growing. we are looking at live pictures of the crowd near one of the roads that cordoned off. i wonder, would you give us a sense of the geography? where are you standing, how far away, in relation to where the incident happened? i'm literally about, i would say, 100 yards from the mosque, right beside the arsenal store, a part of innsbruck park station, under the bridge with three police vans and offices right in front of me —— finsbury park station. i would smile in front of them and wave, if i were in front of cameras, but i'm pretty close, because i've been here the last two and a half hours. our live pictures, we are looking at a line of police officers do find some police take at

thejunction officers do find some police take at the junction of one officers do find some police take at thejunction of one of the roads, which i don't know if that is anywhere near you — i'm guessing quite a number of the junctions could be blocked off down there. this is a densely packed area of north london. i don't know if you can see me, but i'm walking past the line. there's a line of 30 police officers, three vans, the roads blocked off. but yeah, it's a very serious incident, and there's a lot of anger. there's a massive group shouting and arguing, and it's quite frightening at times, but i can understand the anger, because some of the reporters are just there to get what they need to get, and i guess the people here get a sense of, you are invading our privacy. as we go to live pictures, you can see

that dawn is breaking now in north london on what is being described as a major incident near one, possibly two mosques in the finsbury park area. police cordoned there. a large crowd gathered at what has been described as a major incident. the metropolitan police say this happened at around 12:20am london time. they described it as a van, a vehicle colliding with pedestrians. since that initial statement from the metropolitan police, we have spoken to a number of eyewitnesses similarto spoken to a number of eyewitnesses similar to the ones you just heard there, and we are now starting to get a picture of what happened in north london. the clearfeeling down there in finsbury park is that this was some kind of deliberate attack. eyewitnesses describing a van driving towards worshippers, towards the muslims coming out of the

mosque, and possibly one or two men, possibly one with a knife — that has come from the london evening standard. we know so far only that the metropolitan police have confirmed that one man has been arrested. we believe several people have been injured. possibly three, four or five. that has come from various witnesses, and also some witnesses saying they believed at least one person has been killed. this is being described as a major incident, and to give you a sign of that, the reaction coming in from the government. let's have a look at what the prime minister, theresa may, has had to say in the middle of the night: that's the british prime minister

theresa may giving a statement out in the middle of the night. then we can go to the leader of the opposition, the labour party, and a local mp it has to be said, jeremy corbyn, saying: there have also been words from the mayor, sadiq khan. of course the authorities in london dealing with so much in the last few weeks. the fire at the grenfell tower in west london, in which many people were killed, and of course a number of terrorism incidents. let's go to our reporter jane—frances kelly, she's at the scene and she's been speaking to eyewitnesses and we spoke to her earlier. eyewitnesses have told me