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A car has crashed into pedestrians and been swarmed by police after an incident right outside London's Houses of Parliament.
Videos show the car smashing through Parliament Square in Westminster, and armed police arriving at the scene within seconds and apprehending a suspect.
Much still remains unclear about the incident, including the identities of anyone involved. But more is expected to become known as the hours and days go on.
As with all breaking news incidents, information is scarce and what information is there is is often unclear. But we will be seeking to round up everything we know for certain about the day's events – and everything we are still yet to find out.
A brief timeline of today's events
At about 7.40am on 14 August, a car is seen careening through Parliament Square. It first crashes into some cyclists, then moves off and through the mix of roads in the square before crashing into a barrier.
Just seconds after, armed police – probably hundreds of officers – swarm on the scene and take the driver out of the vehicle. He appeared to make no effort to resist and had stayed in the car throughout the aftermath.
Soon after that, police get to assembling a cordon around the whole of Parliament Square, and deep into Westminster. The Tube station is shut. People who work inside the cordon are not allowed to go into their offices – and their colleagues who had already arrived are not allowed to leave.
Over the morning, the cordon stays in place as further details are revealed about the incident and its aftermath.
What we know about the suspect
Very little is known about the man who was driving the car, but details are slowly being revealed.
He was wearing a black puffer jacket, and the car he was driving was a silver Ford Fiesta, which remained at the scene. He did not appear to say anything during or after the crash, according to eyewitness reports and videos.
Images posted to social media showed him wearing handcuffs and being led away from the scene soon after police arrived. He is now being held in a South London police station.
There were no weapons or anybody else in the car, police said.
How many injuries have been reported?
The London Ambulance Service has said that it treated three people in total, all with apparently non-life-threatening injuries.
It had said soon after the incident that it had taken two people into hospital. It then added that a third patient with "minor injuries" was treated at the scene.
At least some of those injured are thought to have been among the cyclists who were first hit by the car.
What has the response been from politicians?
Theresa May said her thoughts were with those injured in an incident outside parliament on Tuesday after two people were taken to hospital when a car crashed into security barriers.
Neither of those hurt were believed to have suffered serious injuries. Parliament is in recess and May is currently on holiday outside of the UK.
"My thoughts are with those injured in the incident in Westminster and my thanks to the emergency services for their immediate and courageous response," May said on Twitter.
May will not be attending the COBRA meeting that will take place to co-ordinate the response to the incident later today, because she is on holiday. It will be a meeting of officials and no cabinet members will be there.
What happens next?
The immediate police response to the incident will go on for hours – and the investigation will most likely take months or even years.
An emergency meeting of the government's Cobra committee will be held at 2pm, during which the top-ranking officials in the police and other bodies will discuss the ongoing threat and their response.
And police will have a heavier presence around the country over the coming days.
A man has been arrested on suspicion of terror offences after a car ploughed into cyclists before crashing into barriers outside the Houses of Parliament, injuring a number of pedestrians
Dozens of armed officers swarmed the scene and placed Westminster on lockdown following the crash, which Scotland Yard said was being treated as a “terrorist incident”.
Footage posted on social media showed police with firearms leaping over a barrier and surrounding a silver Ford Fiesta before leading its driver away in handcuffs.
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The Metropolitan Police said the car “collided with a number of cyclists and pedestrians” before slamming into a security barrier that was installed following last year’s Westminster Bridge terror attack.
A spokesman added: “The driver of the car, a man in his late 20s, was arrested at the scene by armed officers. He has been taken to a south London police station where he remains in police custody.
“He was arrested on suspicion of terrorist offences.
“There was nobody else in the vehicle, which remains at the scene and is being searched. No weapons have been recovered at this stage.
“At this stage, we are treating this as a terrorist incident and the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command is now leading the investigation.”
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Streets around Parliament Square, Millbank and Victoria Tower Gardens have been cordoned off and will remain shut “for some time” as police investigate, Scotland Yard said.
London Ambulance Service (LAS) said it treated two people before taking them to hospital. Neither was believed to have been seriously hurt.
Several witnesses said the car appeared to have been crashed deliberately.
“The car went onto the wrong side of the road to where cyclists were waiting at lights and ploughed into them,” said Barry Williams, a BBC employee who works nearby.
He added: “Then it swerved back across the road and accelerated as fast as possible and hit the barrier at full pelt.
“It was a small silver car and he hit it at such speed the car actually lifted off the ground and bounced.”
Another witness, Ewalina Ochab, said: “I think it looked intentional – the car drove at speed and towards the barriers.
“I was walking on the other side [of the road]. I heard some noise and someone screamed.
“I turned around and I saw a silver car driving very fast close to the railings, maybe even on the pavement.”
Police closed nearby Westminster Underground station following the crash and cleared out hundreds of commuters after widening cordon around the scene.
Members of the public and press were moved further from the area as police erected what an officer at the scene referred to as a “Terrorism Act cordon”.
The cordon was extended past the Cenotaph on Whitehall, a five-minute walk away.
Westminster Bridge was also closed to traffic.
Jason Williams, 45, was walking to work when he saw the crash, which he said “looked deliberate”.
He told the Press Association: “I saw a car going at high speed towards Parliament.
“It hit a bollard. A dark looking man, I would say maybe Asian, Mediterranean.”
He added: “It looked deliberate. It didn’t look like an accident. How do you do that by accident? It was a loud bang.”
Other witnesses said they heard screams as the car ploughed into cyclists.
“Sat in the first car at Westminster lights when car ploughed through cyclists,” wrote one woman on Twitter, sharing a photo of a group of cyclists stood by bikes strewn on the road.
Police were on the scene “in seconds”, she added.
Bus driver Victor Ogbomo, 49, was driving passengers past Westminster when he saw the aftermath of the crash.
“All I saw was the smoke coming out of a vehicle, a silver vehicle... I just stopped the bus,” he said.
“The police said we have to move back, then in less than five minutes the response team came.
“They went to the vehicle, so we had to push back. I saw the car in the barrier, I didn’t know how it got there.
“I think someone was inside the vehicle because many police went towards the vehicle.”
Peter Rhodes, assistant director of operations at LAS, said: “We sent a number of resources to the scene including three ambulance crews, responders in cars and an incident response officer.
“We have treated two people at the scene for injuries that are not believed to be serious and have taken them to hospital.”
Theresa May, the prime minister, said: “My thoughts are with those injured in the incident in Westminster and my thanks to the emergency services for their immediate and courageous response.”
The Houses of Parliament are surrounded by security barriers made of steel and concrete.
The defences were installed in the wake of a deadly terror attack in March last year, when Khalid Masood ploughed a car into crowds on Westminster Bridge, killing four people.
Masood then abandoned his car and stabbed and killed unarmed police constable Keith Palmer before he was shot by armed police in a courtyard outside Parliament.
What happened?
At 07:37 BST a silver Ford Fiesta hatchback crashed into barriers outside Parliament in central London.
Three people were injured and the driver of the car was detained by officers at the scene.
Eyewitnesses have said the car appeared to deliberately hit members of the public.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The car can be seen crashing into a barrier
What happened to the driver?
The driver, a 29-year-old man, has been arrested on suspicion of terrorist offences and is being held at a south London police station.
He is not believed to be known to MI5 or counter-terrorism police, and is not co-operating with officers.
There was nobody else in the vehicle and no weapons have so far been found.
Security Minister Ben Wallace told the BBC the suspect, who has not been formally identified, was British but originally from another country.
Is anybody hurt?
A man and a woman were treated in hospital for serious injuries but have since been discharged.
A third patient was treated for minor injuries at the scene.
Where did it happen?
The crash occurred in central London outside the Palace of Westminster. Parliament is not currently sitting.
An eyewitness said the vehicle was travelling westbound when it swerved into eastbound traffic.
What action have the police taken?
Police are treating the situation as a terrorist incident and the Met's Counter-Terrorism Command is leading the investigation.
More than 10 police vehicles and at least three ambulances were at the scene outside Parliament - where firearms officers and police sniffer dogs searched the area.
Searches are taking place at two addresses in Birmingham and one address in Nottingham.
Police have released more details about the car's movements before the crash:
The car travelled from Birmingham to London on Monday night, arriving in the capital just after midnight
The vehicle was in the Tottenham Court Road area from approximately 01:25 BST until 05:55. It was then driven around the Westminster and Whitehall area from approximately 06:00 until the incident
Westminster Tube station was closed for entry and exit, and streets around Millbank and Parliament Square cordoned off for several hours after the crash.
The immediate area around the incident remains taped off and screened by white temporary fencing.
Image copyright Reuters Image caption The area around Millbank is on lockdown
Police called on the public to be vigilant and to dial 999 if they see anything suspicious that causes concern.
Scotland Yard's head of counter terrorism Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu said there was "no intelligence at this time of further danger" to London or the UK as a whole connected to this incident.
British Transport Police said extra officers, including firearms officers, would be on patrol in England, Scotland and Wales following the attack.
A statement on the House of Commons website said tours of Parliament on Tuesday would resume as soon as possible for visitors who bought tickets in advance.
It advised people to approach the area from the direction of Charing Cross and enter via Portcullis House on Victoria Embankment, which remains open.
What did eyewitnesses see?
Barry Williams, a BBC staff member based at Millbank, said the car drove onto the wrong side of the road and "ploughed" into cyclists waiting at the lights.
"Then it swerved back across the road and accelerated as fast as possible, and hit the barrier at full pelt," he said.
Jason Williams told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme the driver had "driven at speed - more than 40 mph".
He said: "I saw at least 10 people lying down. I was told basically to move away, to run."
"It looked deliberate... it didn't look like an accident," he added.
Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Witness: "I saw a man drive towards Parliament at speed"
Ewalina Ochab, who also saw the crash, said: "It looked intentional - the car drove at speed and towards the barriers."
She said: "I was walking on the other side of the road. I heard some noise and someone screamed. I turned around and I saw a silver car driving very fast close to the railings, maybe even on the pavement."
The vehicle did not appear to have a front registration plate when it crashed, she added.
How have politicians responded?
The government held a meeting of its Cobra emergency committee on Tuesday afternoon.
The prime minister paid tribute to the "formidable courage" and professionalism of the emergency services who "ran towards a dangerous situation in order to protect the public".
Urging the public to remain vigilant but "carry on as normal", Theresa May added: "For the second time in as many years the home of our democracy, which is a potent symbol of our precious values of tolerance and freedom, has witnessed terrible scenes just yards from its door."
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan thanked those who responded first at the scene and said he was in close contact with the Met Police.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said his thoughts were with those hurt. Praising the emergency services, he said: "Their bravery keeps us safe day in, day out."
Home Secretary Sajid Javid said: "Huge thanks to our emergency services for their rapid reaction to incident in Westminster this morning. My thoughts are with those injured."
US President Donald Trump tweeted: "Another terrorist attack in London... These animals are crazy and must be dealt with through toughness and strength!"
What happens next?
BBC News home affairs correspondent June Kelly said: "The police will be looking at this man's background, his identity.
"They will be looking at his beliefs, his associates, also his mental state."
Security correspondent for the BBC Frank Gardner added: "We live in a digital age, there are no secrets.
"It'll be out pretty soon what he's been up to, who he's been communicating with, where he's been going, what he's been doing, what he had for breakfast, frankly."
Reuters
There has been an attack outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London.
A car crashed into security barriers shortly after 7.30am on Tuesday morning.
Armed police officers were seen surrounding the vehicle before a man was arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences.
Cyclists were hit in the crash and London Ambulance Service said it had taken two people to hospital but no-one was seriously hurt.
"Given that this appears to be a deliberate act, the method and this being an iconic site, we are treating it as a terrorist incident" said Neil Basu from the Metropolitan Police.
He added there was "no intelligence at this time of further danger" to London or the UK as a whole.
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No one else was in the car and no weapons have been found so far.
Prime Minister Theresa May said: "My thoughts are with those injured in the incident in Westminster and my thanks to the emergency services for their immediate and courageous response."
The Houses of Parliament are surrounded with security barriers of steel and concrete.
The measures were brought in after the Westminster Bridge attack in March 2017, which killed four people.
