One man died and ten others were injured after a van driver screaming “I want to kill all Muslims” ploughed into worshippers in a terror attack near to Finsbury Park mosque.
The 48-year-old suspect was tackled to the floor and detained by onlookers after the vehicle veered into a crowd of worshippers who had just finished prayers at the mosque in Seven Sisters Road. Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu confirmed the attack on worshippers was being treated as terrorism.
In an statement outside Scotland Yard on Monday morning, Mr Basu said the attack unfolded as a man was receiving first aid from the public and that he died at the scene. Eight other people were taken to hospital, at least two of them with “very serious injuries”, Mr Basu said. He said: “The attack unfolded whilst a man was receiving first aid from the public at the scene; sadly, he has died.
“Any causative link between his death and the attack will form part of our investigation. “It is too early to state if his death was as a result of the attack.” He added: “This is being treated as a terrorist attack.”
The attacker struck at 12.15am as the area was busy with worshippers attending Ramadan night prayers at the mosque.
The attack comes at a time of political turmoil in Britain, as Prime Minister Theresa May, weakened by the loss of her parliamentary majority in a June 8 election, plunges into divorce talks with the European Union. “All my thoughts are with the victims, their families and the emergency services on the scene,” May said.
The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, said extra police had been deployed to reassure communities, especially those observing Ramadan, describing the attack as “an assault on all our shared values of tolerance, freedom and respect.”
The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, in whose constituency the attack took place, said he was “totally shocked.”
Britain has suffered a spate terrorist attacks in the past few months. This incident is coming on the heels of three Islamist militants who drove into pedestrians on London Bridge and stabbed people at nearby restaurants and bars, killing eight two weeks ago.
It also follows a suicide bombing at a pop concert in Manchester, northern England, in May which killed 22, while in March, a man drove a rented car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge in London and stabbed a policeman to death before being shot dead. His attack killed five people.
