Westminster Terror Attack: BBC News 6.00pm-7.00pm BBC News Special

Tonight at Six - four people have died and 20 are injured

after a terror attack in the heart of London.

Police were called to the scene just before 3.00pm.

We've been piecing together the details since then.

Moments of panic, they don't yet know what's happened and then this.

The attack began on Westminster Bridge.

A vehicle was driven into pedestrians.

It is here one person was killed, several others were hit.

Paramedics say their injuries are catastrophic.

On the other side of the road there was a body and when I looked further

When I looked over the side of the bridge,

there appeared to be a body in the water as well.

This is where the car ended up, crashed into the railing

Inside the gates of the Palace of Westminster an attacker

was shot by police after he stabbed an officer.

This house is now suspended, but please wait here.

MPs were told the building was in lockdown.

Theresa May was there but security officers got her out.

The senior national coordinator had declared this a terrorist incident.

And although we remain open-minded to the motive, a full

counterterrorism investigation is already underway.

And coming up in the sport on BBC News...

England manager Garteh Southgate prepares his side to face

the World Champions Germany in their friendly

Westminster is in a state of emergency tonight,

after what the Metropolitan Police described as a terror incident.

Four people are known to have died, including an attacker. 20 people

have been injured. A police officer was killed inside the Parliamentary

grounds, the heart of British democracy.

An attacker is reported to have run down several pedestrians

on Westminster Bridge before crashing into railings.

Others suffered "catastrophic" injuries, according

The attacker is then reported to have run through the gates

of the Palace of Westminster and stabbed the police officer.

In the last few minutes we understand the officer has

Eyewitnesses said he was shot by police as he approached a second

During the attack, MPs in the House of Commons were told to lie

Our first report tonight is from our political editor,

Laura Kuenssberg who has been inside parliament.

The shouts around the hearts of Westminster. Normally, a safe place.

Not today. Members of the public, politicians, the hundreds of staff

for whom this is work, in politics, but some, a home from home.

Lockdown, a place of danger. Ministers rushed to safety. There

are at least a couple of hundred people inside Portcullis House. This

is the heart of where Westminster does its business and we're part of

a lockdown after what happened outside. A police officer has told

me one man was shot at the front, and people heard three of gunshots

on their way to vote. This is a place that is tightly guarded at all

times, but a sense of shock, finally it appears something so serious has

happened right here in the heart of Westminster. Inside, everything

clear. Order. I am now going to suspend the sitting of the house.

This house is now suspended, but please wait here. Then in a chamber

that sat through all sorts of situations, work interrupted. There

has been a serious incident within estate. It seems that a police

officer has been stabbed. That the alleged assailant was shot by armed

police. An air ambulance is currently attending the scene to

remove the casualties. There are also reports of further violent

incidents in the vicinity of the Palace of Westminster, but I hope

colleagues on all sides will appreciate, that it will be wrong of

me here to go into further details until we have confirmation from the

police and from the house security authorities about what is going on.

As the seriousness of the attack began to spread, MPs told me they

heard three, four gunshots on their way to vote. Others saw with their

eyes, from their office windows. We saw a thickset man in black clothes

come through the gates into new Palace Yard. New Palace Yard is just

below Big Ben. This man had something in his hand, it looked

like a stick. He was challenged by a couple of policemen in yellow

jackets. One of the policeman fell down. We could see the man in black

moving his arm in a way that suggested he was either stabbing or

striking the yellow jacketed policeman. One of the policeman ran

to get help, which was very, very quick to come. As this attacker was

running towards the entrance used by MPs, two plainclothes guys with guns

shouted at him, uttered what sounded like a warning. He ignored it and

they shot two or three times and he fell. Westminster Bridge, a tourist

spot. This afternoon, violence still do it. I heard what I thought was

just a collision. And then I looked at the window of the taxi and I saw

someone down, obviously in great distress. Then I saw a second person

down and I started filming and I saw three more people down, one of them

bleeding profusely. So what I saw was an incident involving at least

five people seriously injured. I was just walking across the bridge when

suddenly a bus stop, people were screaming and came off the bus and

they seemed very upset. Then I saw what appeared to be a trainer on the

side of the road. On the other side of the road there was a body and

when I looked further up, there was another body. On the other side of

the bridge, there appeared to be a body in the water as well. A car and

driver intent on taking the lives of those who came to see. What is

normally a safe circle, the most tightly guarded part of the city,

danger and confusion. This afternoon, the police attend an

incident and the National coordinator has declared this

terrorism incident. Although we are unclear on a terrorism investigation

is underway. I will confirm what we know has happened, but I will not

speculate. We received a number of different reports which included a

person in the river, a car in collision with pedestrians and a man

with a knife. Was this one who was responsible? So much is unclear.

Police and the government are considering there's attack as the

most serious of its kind. One attack to stop democracy, not just

politicians who came to work, but hundreds of people to visit and be

part of this place. I have been here with a group of students and we are

in a building which is close to the Riverside and quite near where the

attack took place. We still don't really know what is going on. This

group of students was brought here for the day to see how Parliament

works. Little did they know what kind of situation would unfold.

Frankly, it is really hard to believe what has happened here

today. An attack, that in theory, many expected to come to London

again one day, but the truth of an event like this in practice, a shock

in our parliament, a shock in our country. Whatever the motive, an

effort to stop or democracy in its tracks.

Let's get more from Laura, who has been in Parliament all day.

You just said it is hard to believe what has happened. Let's remember

that happened inside and around Parliament, presumably, supposedly

one of the most secure places in the country? Laura, I wonder if you can

hear me? I was just saying you would think this attack, it happened

inside the Parliamentary grounds and outside one of the most secure

places in the country? That is right. It is hard to

underestimate the fact that this place is in its own secure world.

The journalists, the MPs, the staff who work here, probably walk past

armed to please a dozen times a day. It seems like a very secure place

and a very safe place. Yet just before three o'clock me and many

other people heard please men shouting, members of the public

being rushed along the riverside. People were rushed in Portcullis

House down to one of the emergency exits, right in the heart of the

parliament complex, told to move and ran and moved to the main atrium.

About half an hour we were moved down to offices around the

Parliamentary estate. I am still in one of those offices right in the

middle of Parliament. Some people now have been led out of the

complex, but there are many of us still here who have been trying to

understand what has happened as drips of information have come

through. But MPs heard gunshots earlier this afternoon are shocked

and bewildered. It is hard to overestimate really how Westminster

is in its own world, it is its own community if you like. This

afternoon there are many people who can hardly believe what has

happened. Thank you, we may come back to you later in the programme.

Well in the last few minutes Scotland Yard's top

anti-terror officer, acting Deputy Commissioner Mark

Rowley , has been giving an update on today's events.

We have declared this as a terrorist incident and we are carrying out a

full-scale investigation into the events of today. The attacks started

when a car was driven over Westminster Bridge hitting and

injuring a number of members of the public, including three police

officers. The car then crashed near to Parliament and at least one man,

armed with a knife, continued the attack and try to enter parliament.

Sadly I have to confirm that now four people have died, including the

police officer protecting Parliament, one man we believe to be

the attackers who were shot by a police firearms officer. The

officer's family have been aware. At least 20 people had been injured. My

thoughts are with all those who have been affected by today's attack and

we have lost one of our own as he acted to protect the public and his

colleagues. This is the day we plan for but we hoped would never happen.

Sadly it is now a reality. We will continue to do all we can to protect

the people of London. The acting Deputy Commissioner, Mark Rowley.

Daniel Sanford is that Scotland Yard for us. Presumably this is the kind

of incident for which Scotland Yard prepares and rehearses? It has been

in everyone's mind that there could be a vehicular attack, an attack on

parliament, an attack were police officers could get injured or killed

for many months, if not years now. But today it was the reality.

Westminster Bridge, just 100 metres in that direction, is a crime scene.

Every vehicle is still there, every vehicle that was there at the time

of the attack, and forensic officers are poring over the scene, literally

metres from Big Ben itself. Just behind the building is old Palace

Yard, one of the most important open areas in the Palace of Westminster,

where every MP walks through almost every day and that is also a crime

scene. We are in the new headquarters of Scotland Yard which

is literally 100 metres and the road where the attacker drove goes

between New Scotland Yard and the Palace of Westminster. Scotland Yard

have lost one of their own officers and they have had to shoot dead man

they believed was attacking Parliament and believe they have

lost two other people on Westminster Bridge itself as the vehicle mode

through tourists, students, school pupils, and people going about their

everyday business. The major counterterrorist operation is now

under way. That Scotland Yard know that today despite all their

preparations, somebody has launched an attack on parliament and it has

had some success. There is one question this evening and that is

about whether or not this man was a lone attacker or whether there was

someone else with him. There are reports of two people in the car and

there are reports of a white attacker or a black attacker which

leaves open the possibility there may have been two people.

Tonight the Prime Minister will chair a meeting of the government's

Parliament remains in lockdown, with business suspended,

as our Deputy political editor John Pienaar reports.

It is one of the busiest and best guarded sites in Britain, in Europe.

The police response took moments and as the cordons close, those who

watched these terrifying scenes unfold added to the accounts of what

had just taken place. 200 yards from Big Ben, overlooking Westminster

Bridge, I arrived just after the incident, and I bumped into a group

of extremely traumatised, French teenagers who were here on a trip

for a week. One of them described to me what had happened on the bridge,

how he saw a car drive into what he thought were two or three of the

people with him. Many of the people were too upset, trying to much to

talk, some in shock. I passed one person lying on the pavement covered

in one of those metallic blankets you see after the marathon. And from

inside Parliament itself reporters heard the attacker's car heat the

barriers outside and saw what happened next. We heard a big bang

outside at about 2:40pm and then screaming, a man shouting. And then

200 or so tourists or passers-by started running from Westminster

Bridge across the pavement in front Parliament to Westminster Abbey.

There was shooting outside Parliament and an ambulance landed.

The police are marking the area out with cones. Emergency services

converged in force to tend to the casualties. At this stage no one

knew quite how many. Metres away, London life went on blissful

ignorance. One MP raised the alarm. I made my way into the tube station

and I could see people walking around with their kids like it was a

normal day. I went straight to the control room and said, you need to

shut the tube station now, we have got a terror attack on the Palace of

Westminster, you need to shut it now. He put a radio alert out to all

staff and they put on their high visibility jackets. All the MPs were

going to vote when the incident happened. I was on the way to the

old Palace when the gunshots rang out. It takes a moment to think that

is not a car, that is a gunshot. Then there was lots of yelling, get

down on the floor, get back into the building, which is what we all did.

The numbers killed, the casualty list has grown. It is an attack at

the heart of British political life. The security services will study

what happened here and seek to learn the lessons even as innocent victims

are treated and the families of the dead begin to mourn.

In a moment we'll speak to Sophie Hutchinson who is outside

St Thomas's Hospital in central London but first we can talk

to Eleanor Garnier who's in Westminster for us.

Behind you I can see nothing but blue flashing lights. Presumably the

whole place is in lockdown? Even this evening police vans and cars

and ambulances are continuing to arrive. We are 300 metres away from

the Palace of Westminster. I have been here or afternoon and

politicians have been telling me how shocked they are at what has

happened here in Westminster and saddened that four people have died

and 20 have been injured. As soon as the incident happened Westminster

went into lockdown. MPs and Parliamentary staff told me they

were asked to move away from windows. Gradually people inside

Westminster were grouped together and it is only in the last hour or

so that 500 people were taken across the road to Westminster Abbey where

there are about 1000 people, many being briefed by police officers

there. It is not yet know exactly what happened and when, but many are

saying is that they are what has happened and the former Prime

Minister David Cameron said, those seeking to attack our democracy with

these barbarous methods will never win. But many questions are still

unanswered. Were people who may not know, Saint Thomas' is very close to

Westminster, isn't it? This is the nearest hospital to where the attack

took place. It is literally across the River Thames from where the

houses of parliament are. It looks onto them if you like. You can see

the scene beside me. There are a dozen or so emergency vehicles here,

mainly ambulances, parked in the street. The hospital is behind me.

On my other side you can see one of these buses, a sightseeing bus, it

has just been abandoned in the street with other vehicles abandoned

as the attack took place. London ambulance say they were called to

Westminster Bridge, which is just beyond this bus here, at about

2:40pm this afternoon, and they declared a major incident. They

treated ten people on the bridge. We now know there were at least 20

casualties, some of them French schoolchildren. It was staff at the

hospital who rushed out as soon as the attack happened in order to try

and help. One of the junior doctors here was the first to say a woman

had died at the scene after reports and number of people had been

ploughed into by that vehicle. This is not a major trauma centre and an

number of patients, we understand foreign pages, have been taken to

Kings Hospital, a major trauma centre, where they are being treated

for their injuries. Sophie Hutchinson and Eleanor

Garnier. Richard Tice was coming

out of the tube station He spoke to the BBC's

Daniel Sandford soon afterwards. I was coming out of the tube

at Westminster at about 2:45 p.m. It was clear something had happened,

police were ushering people out I was ushered onto Westminster

Bridge, but then I looked across to the West pavement

and there were bodies, people lying So I then moved up into the middle

of the bridge, looked further down the south side of the bridge

and it was clear there were also bodies, people lying on the floor

on the western pavement. When I spoke to someone who had

clearly been on the bridge at the time of the incident

they said that a car had mounted the pavement, or a vehicle,

and literally driven the whole way from south to north, up the bridge,

knocking people over. I counted eight people

the length of the bridge from south to north,

at least eight. One was clearly in a sort of shocked

moment, so you are not quite sure what is going on,

but as I looked up and down As I was standing there,

an ambulance came over, landed in Parliament Square and out

came an incredible number of security personnel,

both obviously from the Ambulance Service, paramedics, but also

suddenly plain clothes people, people with masks on,

people with machine guns. The quantity of armed

personnel arriving was very Then as I looked there were vehicles

arriving from the embankment, both police vehicles,

vehicles with lights on and then a grey van with a number

of security personnel. In a sense reassuring to know

that there were so many armed security personnel looking

after our safety so quickly after what was clearly

a pretty dramatic event. An eyewitness who watched these

horrific events unfold. As we've been hearing,

police say they are treating today's attack as a terrorist incident

until they know otherwise. Since 2014 the threat level

for international terrorism in the UK has been rated as severe,

meaning an attack is highly likely. Tonight questions are being asked

about how someone managed to penetrate Parliament's enhanced

security system carrying a weapon. Our security correspondent

Gordon Corera has this Armed officers around the Palace of

Westminster this afternoon. In the immediate aftermath of a long feared

attack. It is supposed to be one of the most secure sites in the

country, precisely because it has long been top of the target list for

terrorists. Armed police have regularly carried out exercises like

this one to secure Parliament and the area around it. But the

challenges in stopping every attack are enormous and today they were

having to respond for real. The Met responded in line for our plans for

a marauding terrorist attack. It included uniform and specialist

firearms officers. We now have an ongoing operation and whilst we

currently believe there was only one attacker, I am sure the public will

understand as taking every precaution in locking down and

searching the area as thoroughly as possible. There is no identification

yet of those involved, but the police are saying they are treating

the attack as a terrorist incident. But who did this and how did they

manage to The security services said 13

attacks have been stopped. But we have seen those planning attacks

switch to less sophisticated techniques, which can be harder for

the intelligence agencies to spot. A year ago exactly so an attack on

Brussels airport and the metro. That was more sophisticated than what we

saw in Westminster day, including the use of explosives. Last weekend,

Orly airport in Paris show that loan individuals resort to low-tech

means. The man grabbed a gun of a soldier but were shot. Recent

attacks in Berlin and Nice show what damage a vehicle can do to people on

the streets, as in Westminster. But that is impossible to prevent unless

you can identify the attack beforehand. In many recent cases,

they have been inspired by so-called Islamic State, but might not be in

direct contact with the group, but makes it harder to find them. In

recent years, security around Parliament has been upgraded after

intruders managed to get inside. Cameras, bollards and x-ray scanners

are in place, but today an attacker did manage to bridge the initial

perimeter. Although police did deal with him quickly after he got in.

There may be questions over how that happened, but the priority for now

will be identifying those behind the attack, understanding their

connections and working out if the threat has really passed.

In a moment we'll speak to the BBC Presenter Nick Robinson

who is in Westminster, but first our transport

correspondent Richard Westcott is at Waterloo tonight.

Are there signs of extra security, as I can see these commuters trying

to get home, is there more security for them tonight?

There is, I will come onto security in a minute. This is Waterloo Bridge

so people will be coming over here to go to the station. It is pretty

much business as usual. About an hour ago it was wall-to-wall red

buses because the traffic was diverted. Over there is the train

line that comes out from charring Cross and there are trains running

normally and you can see Westminster in the background and how close we

are. Pretty much business as usual for the people going home tonight.

But I have been speaking to the British Transport Police and they

are going to have extra officers at railway stations, not just in London

but across Britain. They are not telling me how many officers and

they are not telling me if they will be armed officers or ordinarily

support officers. They say it is not because of any specific threats,

they were very clear about that, it is just to reassure people. So if

you are going home anywhere across Britain, you could see the extra

presence of officers at railway stations. Thank you.

We can talk to the BBC's Nick Robinson, who's at Scotland Yard.

Just describe what you saw? I arrived just opposite the London

eye, so famously lit up every New Year's Eve. As I was walking down

here towards Big Ben, I came across a group of traumatised

schoolchildren from France who were fleeing the bridge. Much of them are

too upset to speak, many in tears, consoling their friends. One lying

on the ground very close to where I am now, covered in one of those foil

blankets by a police officer, who was trying to deal with the fact

they were in shock. Only one could tell me what they have seen, but

three schoolchildren we believe from Brittany had been hit by an attacker

using the car as a weapon. After that, this eyewitness said to me he

had seen two people who look at, he used the word machete. We cannot

corroborate this, I was not on the bridge itself and there were not

multiple witnesses, but these were children who had come a trip to

London and had come to escape the horror they had seen in their own

capital of Paris. Yet today, those children were victims. For those of

us who have worked in Westminster for many years, I have seen friends,

colleagues and members of Parliament I have known for years coming out

here. Yes we knew it might happen, yes we saw the security

preparations. Yes, we knew there were police officers risking their

lives to save ours, but nothing quite prepares you for this. Nick

Robinson at Westminster Bridge and Richard Wescott at Waterloo, thank

you both. As a result of this afternoon's

terrorist attack in Westminster the Scottish Parliament suspended

a debate on whether or not to seek permission from the UK Government

for a second independence A vote was due to be

held in the last hour. And our Scotland Editor Sarah Smith

outside the Scottish You are a long way away from

Westminster, but I wonder the reaction there? There has been

shocked reaction and has had an impact on the business of the

parliament. As the news was coming through we could see MSPs in the

chamber checking their phones, finding out what had happened. The

First Minister left the chamber abruptly. Eventually a Tory MSP

stood up and as the deputy presiding Officer to suspend proceedings. She

controversially didn't do that, she said they would carry on with

business as usable stop I understand that is because the Parliamentary

authorities didn't want to look like they were giving in to terrorism.

But members were uncomfortable carrying on with the debate, some of

them were tweeting from the chamber saying they wanted the debate stop.

After about half an hour the Presiding Officer came in and said

because of events in London, members could not concentrate on the debate

properly, so he was suspending it. Nicola Sturgeon but a statement out

after that saying all of her thoughts are with people caught up

in this attack and the brave emergency services. Although she

thought it was right to stop the debate, it wasn't because of any

security threat at Holyrood. Some MSPs said it was a mistake, it does

look as if Parliament was giving away the liam-macro weighted

terrorism. I understand tomorrow morning is when the debate will

resume. We are getting more and more reaction. Amber Rudd has given a

statement. We do not know the full impact of this terrible incident.

But I know the whole country will be thinking and praying for those who

are affected, as I am. I want to thank the emergency services for the

quick response and pay tribute to their bravery, their courage and

their professionalism. I have been briefed by the Met police and the

security services and the security minister has also been updated. This

is an ongoing incident and the government will continue to be

updated. The Prime Minister will chair COBRA today. The government's

top priority is the security of its people. And I urge everyone to

remain calm but remain vigilant and if they see anything they are

concerned about, they should report it to the police. Home Secretary,

Amber Rudd in the last few minutes. Westminster is busy with tourism,

and many people work in the area. Kevin Schofield, a journalist has

been describing what he saw from his office window overlooking the gates

to Parliament. There was a commotion, people

running around. We thought there had been a bus crash. I looked down at

the gates on the outer perimeter of the Parliamentary estate, they are

secure all day by armed policeman. I saw a man storming the gates. He

attacked the policeman. The policeman went down and another

policeman went to approach him. The man got up with his arm outstretched

rate and looked like he had a night in his hand and pointing it towards

the policeman. Where they walked, I couldn't get a great vantage point,

but there was lots of gunfire. That's when I knew there was

something serious under way and there were lots of policeman running

around. I can see a car which has crashed on the side of Westminster

Bridge. That would seem to be what the bank was. I can see the car is

still there right now. It has obviously crashed into a gate. The

voice of Kevin Schofield, an eyewitness. Let's summarise what we

know about the attacks in Westminster which police, as we have

been saying, are treating as a terrorist incident. Four people are

known to have died. An attacker ran down several pedestrians on

Westminster Bridge. This is where it is understood two people died. 20

others were injured with some suffering catastrophic injuries,

according to the emergency services. The car crashed into railings before

the attacker is thought to have run through gates at the Palace of

Westminster who stabbed a police officer, who then died from his

injuries. Eyewitnesses said the attacker was shot dead by police. A

counterterrorism investigation is underway and the night the Prime

Minister will chair a meeting of the emergency COBRA committee.

A full counter terrorism investigation is under way

There are always questions about a terror attack. Could it have been

prevented. There might be some questions about the physical

security on the bridge. Could there have been bollards, better

protection and more at the perimeter to stop a car getting so close? The

police responded very quickly and very bravely in this incident.

Questions about the perpetrator, Lott may on was this some unknown to

the security and intelligence services. They have foiled many plot

since the murder of Lee Rigby but they have five live counterterrorism

investigations and the threat has been at severe, meaning an attacker

was highly likely. Thank you very much. Let's go to John Pienaar in

Westminster. I know it's difficult, but could use some up for us today's

events in Westminster? In the immediate aftermath of this terrible

outrage, we heard from Gordon, the security services gathered at this

emergency contingency meeting, COBRA and look for any intelligence that

might illuminate what has happened. But our political leadership in this

country, the people themselves have faced some think that they knew was

possible, but now it is reality. The Prime Minister will begin to think

on how to put the words together to express the message she would want

to send out in the light of all of this. You can only have a certain

amount of security in a free democracy like ours. 100% security

is impossible. Theresa May will find a way to inspire that resilience in

the hours and days ahead. Thank you very much.

Not being a great day with the downpours across the country. The

rain will be affecting northern areas and we have a return of rain

in the south-east and also the London area into central and

southern England. Pretty chilly but not desperately cold across most of

the country. In Scotland, could dip down to minus eight degrees in the

Glens. Tomorrow starts cloudy and there may be rain around but there

will be a nice afternoon with sunshine across many areas. Northern

England getting the most of the sunshine. But in southern areas, the

south-west it will remain cloudy and we have the remnants of the weather

front that has been affecting us today and it will stick around on

the south coast tomorrow. Places like Portsmouth to Plymouth hanging

on to the cloud and bits and pieces of rain. Towards the end of the

week, high pressure starts to dominate the weather across most of

the UK. It pushes the weather friends away but bits and pieces of

rain may be left over for the last day of the working week. But most of

the UK enjoying sunshine and temperature starting to creep up as

well. As we head into the weekend, Saturday and Sunday fairly similar.

High-pressure anchored itself across the UK. Lots of dry weather around

and warm sunshine, but the night will be chilly, so a touch of frost

on the way. George, back to you. A reminder of the night's story. An

attack at the Houses of Parliament in London is being treated as a

terrorist incident. Four people are known to have died and 20 people

have been injured. There will be continuing coverage of this

developing