we are now hearing from metropolitan police. there is one third instance of they are investigating. at this time in and around the - area. no word from them whether or not as to the nature of the incident in the area. speculation on social media we will not give a specific spot speculation of their is police activity in other parts of london this evening. i'll talk to you about that when we have something rather more concrete. more sufficient than on twitter. of course police conforming there been a number of people in their concern that the injuries - we deny the ambulance service was there in numbers. these pictures will be playing at the moment.

police in riot gear and helmets. moving at speed. telling people to push back, pushback! as the corridor expands we believe that these are the signs of an active hunt. nothing from the police of course to confirm that but having them just invite here with helmets, with their shields. at least suggests they believe that there is a possibility that people armed are on the streets still. >> right police are telling us to move back. >> police are doing what they believe - in a variety of locations. eyewitness reports that a van drove their pedestrians in london bridge resulting in a number of casualties and that police opened fire. >> scotland yard is saying that

there is another instance at borough market and vauxhall. the control room of british police say there is an incident possibly involving a knife in a vehicle. we know it never people in and around the area have been asked to leave. just as soon as they could. one presumes that was the advice of the police. there is video being circulated on social media. which shows police officers entering a bar at four market and telling people to get out as soon as possible. this would appear to be the video i was talking to about a second ago.[video] [shouting]

[shouting] that indeed was a video we were seeing circulating in social media. it appears the police told them to get out and get down or get out. just as quickly as possible. a little earlier i spoke to a journalist from the spectator magazine.political magazine. he had been traveling over london bridge and what he believed to be the immediate aftermath of whatever took place. this is what he told me. >> i think it was about 10 past 10 or a 10:15.

i was driving over the bridge. then on the left on the pavement there was somebody down on the pavement with a small crowd around them. clearly very concerned about the welfare. [sirens] it looked like someone collapsed. i sort of wondered what was going on. we drove a little bit further southward across the bridge. and noticed that there was another person on the right-hand side of the bridge. it was also not on the pavement this time but in the road itself. suddenly it was apparent something was happening. and basically the traffic came to a standstill. our driver said something that is happening here. we looked around and we could hear sirens coming.

then suddenly another casualty was in the road. and then the traffic coming from the opposite direction, coming from the south stopped and the driver of a cab said there has been a terrorist attack. i think the phrase he used was, westminster all over again. they said there were numerous people in the road. and a second cab driver stopped and said that there had been a series of stabbings. i have, i cannot see that myself so i cannot confirm that. but those are the reports that we have here is certainly so people that look like they had been run over. >> will, from what you saw and of course, you saw someone injured as you are driving.on your side of the bridge and then you saw someone on the other side. in your mind is there any possibility that this could

have been an accident? >> no. i don't think it was an accident. and i think i would say particularly judging from the response of the emergency services it was clearly something very serious going on. so we stopped after we saw all of that, we stopped and standstill for a few minutes. i turned around and behind me after that i saw two policemen get out of a bmw 4 x 4 and they were holding machine guns and putting on helmets.it was clear at least that they thought they were responding to something far more serious than a traffic accident. >> that was -- telling us about this instance. much of the information, much of the information we been receiving this evening has been coming on the metropolitan

police themselves via the social media accounts of they have. they say please remain calm but be vigilant. we are using all necessary skills and resources at london bridge, borough market and vauxhall. those of the three separate locations that have been identified by the metropolitan police. we know that on london bridge itself a van has crashed into, driven intentionally it would appear into a number of people. no indication into the number of casualties but certainly more than a handbill it would appear. there are also reports of their is an incident in nearby borough market. a stabbing, several reports of stabbings. supposedly have taken place there. police have responded. he said that shots have been fired and we are told that they of an incident in and around s

the vauxhall area. in terms of the geography as we look at these pictures, this is very close to london bridge itself. the geography of the methods that london bridge and borough market are a short walk from each other. vauxhall is rather more of a distance away. we spoke with nick archer little earlier. he was in a bar and about a five minute walk away from the bridge itself. he said that when he exited the bar he saw someone on the ground, he believed it was before reports were widely spread.he said he thought it was simply someone that enjoys himself a little too much. he said that someone stopped and started providing first aid and it may well be the case that it was perhaps the first

part of the events that are unfolding this evening. the metropolitan police are telling us that they will release facts when they can. but of course, they're very concerned that the information must be accurate. it may well be the case if we do not hear much from them for quite some time. particularly given the fact the resources will - a major incident has been declared in london this evening. i want to katerina, we can see the flashing lights. where exactly are you in relation to the incident in london bridge and borough market? >> london bridge is in that direction behind me to the east. we have been pushed back by the police, past to the other side. a little earlier on i was on the south side of london bridge. this is very much alive, ongoing and incredibly busy.

a large operation here. police officers shouting at the remaining pedestrians in the area to get back as far as possible. they were pushing people south away from london bridge and west to the direction that we are in now. there was a tremendous amount of police presence, if you want to have a look behind me you can see even in this direction, away from - a good 10 minute walk from london bridge. a huge amount of police cars and responding to this incident. there are also helicopters flying overhead. we are hearing about an incident in three locations now. not only london bridge but also in the area where i'm standing now and also in vauxhall as well. what we are hearing is that police sources say they're looking for three suspects.

it is not known, there has been no identity or description of the suspects offered at this time. according to eyewitness reports it is certainly a very traumatic incident. one which has resulted in a number of casualties. >> let's just describe this, these pictures we are seeing at the moment your location. what appears to be the best part of perhaps this far certainly into triple figures. members of the public walking away from those flashing lights towards the camera with their hands on their heads. can we return to that shock, that would be great. all of those people walking towards the camera. so we can just see that's a little bit more detail. they're not being escorted. >> they not being escorted by the what was happening earlier in the london bridge is that they were a number of people who were about five minutes

walk from the area. people were screaming essentially to pedestrians to get out and clear the area. this is people that were just involved in the area that were hanging around may be trying to take photographs or get information about what was happening.but now it looks like these people are being, there is no police presence around them but they have their hands on their heads and there being escorted out.these are people who are well - it is difficult to exhibit their young people, old people, men just in suits. there are a few clutching their beer. these are clearly people that have been moved out of the area and they were told to put their hands on their heads as their doing so. >> thank you so much katerina.

let's bring in again nick who is on the streets in london. where are you and what you seeing? >> i'm southeast of the borough tube station south of london bridge itself. you might be saying my picture there is a large corridor, police are urging people to get back.i am with a man who is returning from a night out with friends. you are trying to get back out. >> i was trying to leave i could not get. [sirens] >> it seems that we lost nick there. we're trying to get the reporters as close as we can to try and see exactly what is

been happening. the problem of course is that the police want to do their job. as we have seen in the last couple of minutes with the cameras they are trying to get as many people out of the area as possible. but of course, with closing the bridge, closing the tube station and indeed there were reports of other transport disruption elsewhere. vauxhall, is something of a hub for that part of london. it may well prove to be rather difficult for people to get home. i just want to bring in, draining the studio is our defense correspondent. who has the following what's going on at the moment. we know the prime minister is being kept up to date with events. i imagine she would be heading back as soon as possible. >> the latest that i have heard is that she is on her way back to number 10. i have to confess i do not know where she was.tonight anyway.

but she is on her way back and she will be briefed by the metropolitan police, five counterterror command and by senior security officials. remember when the manchester attacks happened, really not that long ago she phoned jeremy corbin, the labor leader in the middle of the night to breathe him as well. and also to agree a suspension and campaigning. it would not be unthinkable that she would also be keeping the labor leader informed of what is going on. >> sorry to interrupt but it does appear we are told that there was a report of one third incident. the third incident was at a location rather further away at vauxhall. we know that station has been reopened. as he mentioned that is something of a hug. this is a bus station, train station, tube station. that particular part may well have been some concern for

reasons. we are waiting to hear from the police themselves. at least for the time being it appears that the situation in and around vauxhall may not be as problematic as that which we have seen in borough market and of course on london bridge itself. just to talk about this evening in terms of the response. on police officers very very quickly making their way to the scene. other emergency personnel are being deployed we have fabulous service of course being deployed with will there be a plan in place? >> absolute. the police, there on the board of the city of london police, they take care of the financial area of london which is really i mean, i do not know officially but it is essentially just over the bridge from london bridge. just over north of the river. and they will work very closely, in the past they have trained for events like this.

the armed police response teams are supposed to be on the scene within minutes of something happening. and what we seen today suggests that they were. we can see now in the various pictures, armed police as well as you can see there, and that television picture - police in uniform keeping guard. there pushing back as the situation develops.it does not surprise me entirely that the scene at vauxhall looks as though it has turned out to be nothing. there is a certain logic to the geography. this is not that far from london bridge but if you took the three incidents that we knew of, london bridge, borough market and vauxhall, i think to a lot of people in london london bridge and borough market are essentially the same

place. >> i would like to pause every second and bring back our reporter on the scene. katerina, you are speaking to someone that was caught up in the incident this evening. >> yes i am. i'm here with simon who was in london bridge as the events were unfolding. can you tell us where you were and what you saw? >> yes i was in borough market and i just saw people run away from the market and there were people lying on the ground. there was a taxi driver with the window down shouting at people to run. we ran for like 100 meters and then saw police cars. it was kind of intense gunfire. i hid in the restaurant for about an hour. then we were down there for quite a while. the police told us to get out and then there was no gunfire. is pretty much as soon as we left the building.

we were down there for another half hour. and - >> what were the police telling about what was happening. what the events were? >> we did not know.they did not say anything. they said they would be in incident, we did not know details. but we can see on the t.v. there are people outside of the restaurant on the ground. >> were these people that had been injured? >> yes. the police said they were casualties. so i do not know the extent of the injuries. what they were. >> how did you feel not knowing what was happening? >> it was terrifying. shock.>> people were coming out from the area with their hands on the head. why was that? >> to be honest i don't know if anyone told us to do that but everyone else was doing it. so we just sort of did it as well. i'm not sure why. sorry about that. >> and so the cabdriver was initially saying what he had

seen. what were you seeing at that time? >> i just saw people on the floor and just ran.people running away. >> are you able to say how long after you had seen the cabdriver, seeing people on the floor did you start hearing gunfire? you estimate how far that was? >> maybe five minutes. within a margin may be a little more or a little less. >> how many people were - how are you finding out what was happening? >> people were looking at their phones. people were checking twitter and news websites. >> as you were coming out, what we able to see? now where we are standing, about 10 or 15 minutes walk from where you are now. what were you seeing as you are coming through? >> lots of first aid kits and lots of medical things. there were people on the ground

previously. lots of arms police and vans. that kind of thing. >> what were they saying to trying to get you out of the area? >> they said they are looking for suspect across london and that we potentially were not safe where we were. we should move towards - the safer area. >> and they were a bunch of people around you and it is safe now. >> yes, pretty much. >> wasn't busy, was it a busy normal saturday night? >> yes it was very busy, there were a lot of people. it is kind of hard to tell when people were moving but it was certainly, certainly walking up to the statement it was -- walking up to the station it was very busy. >> at what point did you feel it was safe to leave the basement?did the police come

down? >> yes, they told us. >> so they came in? >> yes. they said it was now safe. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> hearing from someone who was in the events happening around london bridge this evening, the police are continuing to push people further away from the area. you heard someone describing how london bridge was not safe for the people that were sheltering. they had gone into bars and basement areas, restaurants, trying to escape what was happening outside. you heard him describing seeing several casualties on the ground and the police after an hour an hour and and a half moving everyone that was with him in the area - the police moving them along. told them it was not safe as the people evacuated out of the area. pushing them west to where we are now. out of this immediate vicinity

of london bridge. >> katerina, thank you very much indeed. let's speak again to our defense correspondence. we knew the prime minister was on her way back to london.we now have confirmation of that. we suspect she will be - >> the prime minister and - she is now on her way back. she's in contacted officials and is being updated on the incident at london bridge. we understand she will chair a meeting of cobra. the governments emergency committee in the morning. that will inevitably involve senior cabinet ministers such as the home secretary of defense, the foreign secretary, the chancellor as well.i imagine the -- will be present. senior intelligence agencies. >> let's go shi'a who has been

in and around the borough market area. it is often the case when incidents like this take place nick, people look for one another. >> that is right. is not exactly clear -- what exactly is happening here? >> we are taking in families with kids. they have been absolutely shattered and they are nervous and some of them are crying. in these days, you need somebody with a good heart trying to help as much as you can. for every bad person out there, there are a thousand or million of people which would try and help as many people as they can.

the landlords, mr. frank taylor and mr. tom - myself and we have a couple of other trying to get kids off the street and just make them feel a little bit more safer. >> that was nick speaking to one of those on the ground this evening trying to help those who have been pushed through. find themselves in a strange town with frightening events happening around them. describe the cobra committee. this committee that serves a very useful function in times like this. essentially it allows the desperate parts of government which wouldn't necessarily think of as being particularly

joined up. for example the home office and department of health. they come together and coordinate. >> yes. cobra is a rather mundane acronym for a dramatic -- hence the name cobra. essentially it is put into place at times of national emergencies. not always chaired by the prime minister.it can be by other officials in the case of the manchester attacks it was chaired by the home secretary i believe. it brings together members of government and senior civil servants. members of in this case, the members of the police and anyone really who is directly or in some way involved in the immediate aftermath of a major incident. it allows the prime minister and other senior officials to get a handle on exactly what has gone on.

for example tomorrow morning there will be intelligence updates. there might have been behind this. what more they know about the attacker or attackers. if those traders are still on the run, any kind of update as to their whereabouts and what the police are doing. also in major incidents where hospitals are involved in you have major casualty incidents, health secretary and senior officials will be there to update that part of the response. it is an opportunity to look back at what has happened in the hours previously that have cause for the government to formulate a response in the hours to come. >> much of this information that we've been receiving here at the sky center has been coming from metropolitan police. they confirmed that this has taken part of london bridge. this was 10 past 10. they confirmed that there had

been reports of stabbings and at borough market they responded with arms police. shots had been fired. no more information from them about that. not just yet. we should not begrudge the fact that there have been some 20 or 25 minutes since we heard from them via the social media platforms. they say they were really spots when they can. they said that they're using all of the necessary skills and resources as a set london bridge and that the borough market. we have been speaking to a number of witnesses throughout the course of the evening. we spoke to - murphy. he described the gunfire that he heard shortly after the incident took place on london bridge. >> i am actually military and about and a half hour ago preceding the problem i have a flat adjacent to the bridge.

the london bridge is across the way. in fact there was tremendous barn fire -- gunfire which started. at first that that it was fireworks. but it was tremendous gunfire. that was the first instance. afterward very rapidly here the emergency started about 10 minutes after. the whole incident started with gunfire. it was significant gunfire that went on for quite a few minutes. which other people have thought it was fireworks. but of course i recognize it immediately. so mean that was the cause. after that, the ambulances and police that you see on television at the moment. i was worried about it. in fact i texted my family to sit it was gunfire even before this started. >> when you heard the gunfire, was it in your opinion as former military. was it one weapon firing bursts

or did it appear they were more than one weapon? >> well, there was rapid fire. because i spot that was fireworks at the time. it was quite significant. it went right a significant amount of time here sufficient for me to get out of the chair and have a look through the window to see if it was fireworks. and it was still going on. so it happen for a while. that was before anyone, before there was any police response. which took about 10 minutes because they all passed my flat. i saw them and the helicopters come in fact, the responses were unbelievably fast including a helicopter. >> roughly what time did you hear that burst of gunfire? >> i lost track of time.it would have been about over half hour ago or 40 minutes ago. it was about, the police came about 10 minutes afterwards. when they were on the scene passing with all of the police. it would have been about 10

minutes after i heard the gunfire. >> that witnesses tony murphy speaking to us from his flat adjacent to the bridge. he did not have eyes on london bridge itself. of course, when you hear gunfire, when you see the police responding and numbers to an incident practically on your doorstep. the idea when that happens, your chronology of events make it slightly skewed. it could well be the case of the gunfire that tony was referring to was the gunfire that took place in borough market. that we heard from the metropolitan police a little early to confirm this evening. they confirmed that they had received reports of multiple stabbings taking place in borough market. they responded with arms police and there was shots fired. no other information from them on that as of yet. however, the account of gunfire was confirmed by another eyewitness who was having

dinner close to london bridge. >> on the corner, to armed -- [inaudible] there is a crushed van. it looks like that's obviously where the van - >> i am told that is in the area of borough market. the first indication that many people including myself that this evening, there were events unfolding in and around the london bridge. there were tweets from a journalist. he managed to me shortly after that. he spoke to me as he was attempting to make his way home as so many are trying to do

with difficulty deceiving. he told me that he had seen some people injured, lying on london bridge itself. >> i think it was about 10 past 10 or one fourth past 10. i was driving south over london bridge. suddenly, on the left side of the bridge on the pavement there was someone down the pavement with a small crowd around them clearly concerned. to be on a single system collapsed on the floor. i wondered what was going on. we drove a little further southward across the bridge. there was another person on the right-hand side of the bridge. who was also none of the pavement this time but in the road itself. suddenly, - basically the traffic came to a standstill.

the driver said something bad is happening here. and we looked around, we could hear sirens coming. and then suddenly another casualty was in the road. and then the traffic coming from the opposite direction. coming from the south stopped and a driver of a black cabinet said there has been a terrorist attack. i think the phrase he used was, it is westminster all over again. they said there were numerous people in the roads. then a second cabdriver stopped and said there has been a series of stabbings. i do not see myself so i cannot confirm but is the report that we have. i certainly saw people that looked as it had been run over.

>> will, from what you signed of course he saw some injured because you're driving. on your side of the bridge events also an injured on the other side. is there any possibility that this could have just been an accident? >> no. i do not think it was an accident. and i think, i would say judging from the response of the emergency service that there was something very serious going on. we stopped after we saw all of that. we stopped and standstill for a few minutes. i turned around and behind me, very soon after that i saw two policemen get out of a vehicle, a 4 x 4. they were holding machine guns and a helmet. it was clear at least that they thought they were responding to something far more serious than a traffic accident. >> the spectator was speaking

to me about two hours ago now. it is pretty clear that at times like this the police, their responsibility primarily is to ensure the safety of the public. we have seen that the course of our live coverage tonight. police pushing back members of the public. moving back out and actually i just want to break in for a second and bring you this. theresa may, the prime minister. she is on her way back to london. she has said the terrible incident is being treated in her words as a potential act of terrorism. that confirming which we heard from a correspondent mark white a little earlier today. that that was the working assumption.and understandably so. as i was mentioning, the police have been very keen to move members of the public out of the area quickly. we saw pictures from the

cameraman with reports that katerina gave is a couple of minutes ago. moving forward with hands on head. whether they were told to do that by police or just dumb not to take themselves, it is rather unclear. we also heard reports that the police have been entering bars and restaurants in the area and asking the people, well - telling them to get out and get away. just as quickly as possible. we heard, we have some footage and we have taken this from a twitter user. have a look at this. but first i will apologize one would previously have us there was some bad language. we're very sorry indeed. [video]

[shouting] >> again, we apologize for the language at the end of the clip. has not quite been removed as promised. once again we will our defense correspondent. i keep reiterating this because this is a developing story. conflicting reports, we do not know even from the metropolitan police. they say shots were fired in borough market. we do not yet have confirmation of they are the ones that fired them. it may well be that the incident did not involve anything other than police gunfire.

but, your experiences - people do have access to weapons. significant dangerous weapons often. >> taking this incident first. what we know, we have heard of multiple stabbings. reports of multiple stabbings. >> one second i'm so sorry to interrupt you again. a statement from the prime minister. following updates from police and security officials i can confirm that the terrible incident in london is being treated as we said as a potential act of terrorism. and she continues, this is a fascinating investigation you want to express my huge gratitude to the police and emergency services on the scene. our thoughts with those who are caught up in this dreadful event. i'm sorry you can continue. >> taking what you know and what we have heard from eyewitnesses and officials about tonight's incident, we have had reports of multiple stabbings. we have not had reports of people with gunshot wounds.

we have had reports of gunshots. we don't know if they were fired by a perpetrator or perpetrators. so we are yet to find out. what i would say my knowledge of the way that the police response teams were, is that they would have fired on any attackers whether or not they were armed with guns or not. if they believe they were posing an immediate threat. for the lives of any members of the public in and around the area. as to the wider context to gun crimes in the united kingdom, the security services have been pretty successful in containing gun crime in london and other urban areas. and there are a number of reasons for that. and that is something called operation trident launched in 1998.

it is specifically to target gun crime in the uk and in london. and has had a great deal of success. in areas of underground crime. as opposed to terrorism. for and does benefit from the fact that it is an island and so, smuggling weapons, smuggling guns and arms over to the uk is harder than it is in -. we've seen a number of terrorist attacks on the mainland. that have involved - >> you been listening to and watching breaking news coming out of london where they are currently re-separate attacks. in that say the london bridge beginning with a van that apparently ran over some 20 people. so far we are told that there is at least one fatality. a second incident at borough market. we are told that there were

three people inside the van. all three jumped out onto the bridge and started stabbing people. there are reports of stabbing victims as well. shots fired in addition to those reports. shots fired by police that were responding to these incidents where the public was in harm's way. in vauxhall, police there, the uk police tweeting that there is an investigation there. at this point they're not indicating exactly what has gone down at vauxhall. but the prime minister has, so that they are investigating this. as a potential terrorist attack. that is the very latest coming out of london. of course there are casualties, at least one fatality. multiple people mowed down by a van and three people that jumped out and attacked with 12 inch blades. there were people that hurt shots fired. we believe those shots at this point came from law enforcement

trying to protect the public. we have kristin fisher at the white house right now with the very latest. the president of the united states has been briefed and the british prime minister in fact is also saying that they are treating this as i just mentioned, as a potential terror attack. >> president trump is here at the white house. he has been briefed by the national security council. he has also been very active about what is happening in london on twitter. he posted to tweets since the incident took place. we will share them or not. he said quote - whatever the united states can do to help out in london and the uk, we will be there. we are with you. god bless. he also said that quote - we need to be smart, vigilant and tough. we need the courts to give us back our rights. reading the travel ban as an extra level of safety. so president trump using what just happened in london to push for his travel ban which has been stuck in the courts for weeks if not months now.

and there remember just two days ago, dental trump and ministration officials asked the supreme court to revise it. so that is being considered right now. the president really pushing that on twitter right now hoping that this incident will be able to sway some people. this is of course all happening right after the president just got back from his first foreign trip in which the focus was really fighting terror. he called on all of the arab nations to come together to fight terrorism. this also comes amid growing tensions with all of the european allies after the awkward encounters at the g7 and nato summit.enzymes all of death escalating after the president's decision to pull out of the paris climate accord. he does have a better relationship with the british prime minister theresa may. they spoke in length at the g7

summit and the nato summit about the most recent terror attack in manchester at the concert. they are likely going to be continuing conversation as this investigation unfolds. the president will continue to be briefed this evening. sean spicer says he will continue to be briefed and they will continue to provide updates as the investigation unfolds. >> thank you very much. we're going back to coverage on the ground and witnesses giving their accounts this breaking and developing story. let's listen. >> i am very close to london bridge. i do not know how much you can see. there are several cars at the end of the road. several people who have been walking through trying to get out of this area. they are quite distressed. the scale of what happened this evening, huge numbers of people.

they are now part of this. you can see we are actually, this is a residential area. there are lots of people who have said that they have gone into other people's homes and are too scared essentially to cross through london at the moment. >> thank you very much indeed. this evening we've been trying to get as clear a picture of the incident. the incident that had taken place. the very latest that we have from the metropolitan police again, coming to us through the social media. they are saying that they have plans to keep this under constant review previously please continue to avoid london bridge and the borough market to allow emergency services to deal with ongoing issues. they suggest that - the fears in and around vauxhall have gone away.

our defense correspondent is here. what do we see? >> another update from a different section. these are the police who patrol the river. they tweeted same number into and marine three are part of the response to the london bridge incident. working with lifeboats to evacuate the public. i do not know whether that means there evacuating members of the public who has been in the vicinity and are taking them away via the water. but all aspects of the metropolitan police including the marine are they are today. >> nick archer who was a distance away from london bridge, we also hurt will who was on london bridge and they were people caught up in the incident and injured. we also spoke with another witness - >> we were at the pub and

people we saw people running. and they said ron, you need to run. people are getting stabbed. so we went around the block. we saw a body on the floor. people were around it i think that was before the london bridge. we came up and we saw two pedestrians on the bridge and police said to run to the other side. >> how many people did you see on the ground? >> two. the first one and then we saw someone actually right there. actually covered in blood with black shorts, covered in blood. >> were people panicking? >> yes, everyone was running. everyone was running.

i've never seen anything like it. it was before the bridge, they were on the ground. >> another witness of the injuries caused in this. the vehicle that appears to have collided with a number of people. they were on the bridge but also before the bridge it would seem. but again, we're going to have to wait possibly even until daylight to get clarification. not just from witnesses but from the police and the emergency services themselves as to exactly what happened. let's bring in nick -- to bring us an update from where he is. can you be as specific as you possibly can as to where you are and to the nature of the police emergency services operation where you are? >> i am just south of borough. it is quite wide.

i think we will see in a moment, inside -- just adjacent to the area just south. lots of children there. obviously out at that time. they have been evacuated from inside and in fact, seeing people trying to fall asleep, kids just staring" traumatized about the entire event. i have known donald cochran who has been evacuated from premier can. can you tell me exactly what happened this evening? >> i will not talk long. >> we were just settled in. then just the fire alarm went off. we thought it was actually

something in the building but as we went down the fire escape then we were guided out by the staff. the police guided us and kept us all moving very quick. we were fairly efficient and the exit from the building. we were allowed to stop and this kind gentleman has opened up his pub for us and allowed us to stay in here. we have no clothes. -- is a small price to pay for everything that has been done. we are very welcome here. -- better to be safe than sorry. >> that was our producer

speaking to one of those caught up in the incident. we've seen a number of pictures, a london video this evening of people essentially in their pajamas, inmate dresses that have been evacuated from hotels in and around the london bridge. just to remind you, the statement that we have had in the past few minutes. a statement from the prime minister as you expect at a time when all of this was an act of terror. she said this. following updates from police and security officials i can confirm that the terrible incidents in london have been treated as potential act of terrorism. this is a fast-moving investigation. i want to express my huge gratitude to the police and emergency services were on scene. our thoughts are with those who are caught up in these dreadful events. and those who have been very close to the events this evening. our cameraman has been trying

to get as close to the event as possible. i believe if you can hear me pete, you have information you just received >> pete, it is neil in the studio here. i'm told that you may be able to provide us with something of an update. [inaudible] >> he told me he was a restaurant when one man entered with a knife which he described as about a foot long. he actually put his hands out and about a foot wide. he said the blade is about, he said the blade was about a foot long. and there were four others outside. for other assailants, armed with knives outside. which kind of fits in with when i was up close to the scene.

officers were pushing me back with lots of other locals in a very hurriedly fashion. clearly because of the people in the area that they had not tracked down. according to this eyewitness, there were five assailants. they were all armed. >> i'm sorry to ask you to repeat that. we missed the very beginning. this is an eyewitness he spoke to in the past few minutes. he was at the restaurant in and around borough market. >> yes, that is correct. it is next to -- he did not want to go on camera but he told me, one man entered the restaurant armed with a knife about a foot long. and stabbed a lady who was in the restaurant. maybe a waitress. him along with other people

actually drew bottles and chairs at this man armed with a knife. to try and stop him and he also told me there were four other assailants who saw all armed in the vicinity. some of the outside the restaurant or on the same street as the restaurant at borough market. >> we will pause there and be back to in a moment with very latest that we have from the metropolitan police. they say a 12:25 the incident at london bridge and borough market were declared as terrorist incidents. another tree from the metropolitan police which they put out in the past couple of minutes, the incident at vauxhall is a stabbing and is not connected to the incidents at london bridge and at borough market. so from the police that they are treating these incidents as terrorism. i will the defense

correspondence again who is still a - still in the studio with me. -- the first few minutes of this would be that this is somewhat terrorist related. qwest is hard to know at this stage from where we are sitting. why they feel confident enough to label this as terrorism. one of the reasons might be as pete was just telling us on the phone. it might be down to the number of attackers involved.just to repeat what pete was hearing on the ground in london bridge from someone, and eyewitness in a restaurant saying that he saw five attackers. they were armed with big knives. that might be one of the reasons that the police are treating this as a terrorist incident. generally, the significance of this being a terror incident will play out of the coming hours.

but - i suppose we have to ask what it might mean for the election campaign. we also have to wonder if there were five attackers were their whereabouts arena. it will be difficult for them to be tracked them down if they have split. and of course, the numbers would suggest a network of sorts. although at the moment, it would seem to be a fairly crude type of attack. using a vehicle and using knives. nothing more sophisticated than that. from what we have heard.but we would also be looking at whether or not the joint terrorism analysis center which constantly reviews and assesses the threat level will decide to raise it.of course the threat level that was raised and critical in the hours after the manchester attack was lowered again to severe. last weekend. almost exactly a week ago.

will they decide to raise it again? will be a question for them. the fact that it is terrorism in some senses, has little effect on the police operation. because either way, regardless of that label of terrorism, there is an active investigation and operation ongoing. the police will need to track down the people behind it. but of course terrorism has many other connotations. london is a global city, a city that receives many many tourists and will have had and experienced a terrorist attack, another one in a number of months. and of course the terror attacks in manchester, it will undoubtedly have an impact on the image of the united kingdom from abroad. >> thank you alastair. just to reiterate, at times it

does the emergency services are stretched. london ambulance has been tweeting that they have multiple responding tonight. they say there is more to compare the say that there sufficient resources to respond to the incident. however, one sweet -- one sweet they put out they says we respond we have that you want to call us in a genuine emergency and of course you can always dial 111 for medical assistance? let's go to catalina.