Westminster Bridge: Car 'mows down a dozen people' as man shot outside Parliament by police

At least four people have been killed and 20 injured after a man ploughed his car into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, and then attacked police outside the House of Commons.

Video footage showed victims lying motionless on the bridge after being struck.

There were also unconfirmed reports that a police officer may have died during the attack and three French students were among those injured on the bridge.

It appears that one MP, Tobias Ellwood, a former soldier, tried to save the life of the police officer.

Police have said that a “full counter-terrorism operation is underway”.

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The Press Association has reported that one woman died and a number of others were hurt – including some with “catastrophic” injuries, a junior doctor at St Thomas’ Hospital has said.

The same assailant then drove to the Commons after the attack on the bridge. There were also reports that police fired on an assailant outside the House of Commons as he tried to enter Parliament.

Up to three shots were heard by witnesses, and a police officer was stabbed, according to reports.

There were also images of a policeman pointing his gun at the assailant after he was shot and people fleeing in terror as the attack unfolded. Police have appealed to the public to send images and videos to their officers.

A woman was pulled alive from the River Thames and was being treated by paramedics.

In the panic after the incident, MPs were locked down in the Commons and tourists on the London Eye were stranded after the wheel was stopped after a security measure.

Westminster was still in lockdown several hours after the initial attack and police were appealing to the public to avoid the area. Firearms officers had been dispatched to Westminster Bridge.

Eye-witnesses described the awful scenes as the attack unfounded.

One, Matt Haikin, told the Guardian that he saw “a lot of blood” as the car struck people on Westminster Bridge.

The incident happened at around 2.40pm, according to the police.

The car initially ploughed into several pedestrians on Westminster Bridge with other people fleeing in panic.

Video footage showed several victims lying on the road, with several people attending to the injured. A tweet from the Metropolitan Police read: “We were called at approx 2:40pm to reports of an incident at #Westminster Bridge. Being treated as a firearms incident – police on scene.”

A meeting of COBRA, the government’s crisis committee, has been convened.