AT least two people including a cop have died and numerous others are “catastrophically” injured after a 4×4 mowed down a dozen pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before a knifeman stormed Parliament and stabbed the officer.
The attacker, who was wielding knives, was shot by police after launching the terror attack in the capital this afternoon.
MP Tobias Ellwood, who gave the police officer mouth-to-mouth, has said he died at the scene.
Pictures of a man believed to be a suspect have emerged and show a blade lying on the cobbled street next to him – as it is reported police are hunting a second suspect.
The BBC has reported that a “bald white man” may have also been in the car and could now be hiding out in Parliament.
One suspect was shot by police after stabbing a cop, with three officers injured in the attack.
Paramedics were seen tending to the suspect as armed cops trained their rifles on his stripped body outside Parliament.
Other dramatic pictures show the bloodied bodies of victims littering Westminster bridge as heroic bystanders desperately try to save the lives of those “catastrophically” injured.
One woman has died after being flung under a bus on Westminster Bridge as the 4×4 ploughed through the crowds.
Another person was thrown into the River Thames and is currently being treated by paramedics with serious injuries.
Earlier reports suggested sounds of an explosion were heard but this has not been confirmed.
WHAT WE KNOW SO FAR
- Reports of gunfire and man wielding a knife outside Parliament at 2.40pm
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Police shoot suspect in Parliament grounds after police officer stabbed
- Reports attacker mowed down up to a dozen people in 4×4 on Westminster Bridge
- It is thought he careered along bridge ploughing to all in his path before hitting Parliament gates
- Police treating the attack as a “terrorist incident until we know otherwise”
- Dramatic pictures show bloodied bodies strewn across bridge and outside Parliament
- Theresa May bundled into Jaguar by undercover cop and whisked to safety
- Westminster on lockdown with station, bridge and roads shut for foreseeable future
- Emergency services urge Londoners not to call 999 unless absolutely necessary
The Prime Minister was in the voting lobby at the time of the attack and was rapidly bundled into a silver Jaguar by an undercover cop and rushed from the scene.
Official sources have confirmed she is unharmed.
The news came as eyewitness’ the horror that unfolded on Westminster Bridge with pedestrians being knocked down like bowling pins.
Witness Rick Longley said: “We were just walking up to the station and there was a loud bang and a guy, someone, crashed a car and took some pedestrians out.
“They were just laying there and then the whole crowd just surged around the corner by the gates just opposite Big Ben.
“A guy came past my right shoulder with a big knife and just started plunging it into the policeman.
“I have never seen anything like that. I just can’t believe what I just saw.”
David Lidington MP tells Commons about Westminster attack
Speaking to reporters junior doctor Colleen Anderson from St Thomas’ Hospital said a female pedestrian had died.
She also said she treated a police officer in his 30s with a head injury who had been taken to King’s College Hospital.
She said: “I confirmed one fatality. A woman. She was under the wheel of a bus.
“She died, confirmed her death at the scene.”
Ms Anderson said: “There were people across the bridge. There were some with minor injuries, some catastrophic.
“Some had injuries they could walk away from or who have life-changing injuries.
“There were maybe a dozen (injured).”
According to French media three nationals were also hit on Westminster Bridge during the attack. Their teacher confirmed the students were hit by the 4×4.
As Westminster was placed on lockdown Commons Leader David Lidington told MPs: “What I am able to say to the House is there has been a serious incident within the 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’d be wrong of me to go into further details until we have confirmation from the police and from the House security authorities about what is going on.”
Rob Smith was running past Westminster when he said he saw the drama unfolded, told Sun Online: “The grey Hyundai car came across the bridge then across the cycle lane, hit a man on a bike and drive into the wall gates.
“Police ran straight out and shot him. I think there was another person but I can’t be sure”.
He said that officers had been drawing their guns as they ran out.
Another witness reported: “We heard a loud bang, lots of shouting and men running around.
Someone rushed through, attacked a policeman.
“He appeared to be carrying a knife or a gun. We then heard gunfire, five or six rounds.
“The man approaching one of the police officers with a knife.”
Another witness told Sky News a man was seen walking towards a policeman with a knife in his hand, having already assaulted another policeman.
Cops who had held a practice terror drill on Sunday were at the scene within six minutes of the attack.