Politics: London police treating events at London Bridge, Borough Market as 'terrorist incidents'

It's unclear how many injuries or casualties have occurred, or at which locations, although media has reported multiple fatalities.

It's unclear how many injuries and casualties have occurred, or at which locations, although the BBC has reported there are multiple fatalities.

Police have reportedly arrested one man, and are searching for multiple suspects who may be armed.

Officers also responded to a stabbing incident in the Vauxhall area, but said it was unconnected to the London Bridge and Borough Market incidents.

Authorities have so far been scant with details, saying they will release information when they can. They also issued safety instructions to those in the areas of the incidents, warning people to run, hide, and contact police when it is safe to do so.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said the incidents were being treated as a "potential act of terrorism," and will chair a meeting of the government’s emergency response committee on Sunday, the Associated Press reported.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan also said he was in contact with the police commissioner, and released a statement calling the incidents "a deliberate and cowardly attack on innocent Londoners."

"I condemn it in the strongest possible terms. There is no justification whatsoever for such barbaric acts," Khan said.

US President Donald Trump was also briefed on the incident, and posted a tweet touting his travel ban that has been blocked by federal courts. "We need to be smart, vigilant and tough. We need the courts to give us back our rights. We need the Travel Ban as an extra level of safety," Trump wrote.

Fox News cited witnesses who said that people had been stabbed at the London Bridge incident, and Reuters reported that one witness had seen people who may have had their throats cut.

Some passersby told The Spectator's Will Heaven they saw 15-20 people struck on the bridge, while others said they saw 7-8. Heaven also said he heard reports of stabbings.

Borough Market is a popular gourmet food market in the South London neighborhood at one end of London Bridge. It is near the Shard, one of London's tallest skyscrapers and one if its most popular tourist destinations.

The London incidents come less than two weeks after a terror attack oustide an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester killed 22 people.

A similar attack also occured in March on London's Westminster Bridge, where a man killed five people after driving into pedestrians. He also stabbed a police officer.

One taxi driver told the BBC he had witnessed three men emerge from the vehicle that "knocked loads of people down" on the London Bridge.

"A van came from London Bridge itself, went between the traffic light system and rammed it towards the steps," the driver said. "Then three men got out with long blades, 12 inches long and went randomly along Borough High Street stabbing people at random."

Lara Al-Ostta witnessed the aftermath of the London Bridge incident. Al-Ostta told The Guardian she was having drinks with a friend at the Old Thameside Inn, which is located under London Bridge, when people ran into the bar and told patrons to run away because "people are stabbing each other.

Stephen Tull was under the bridge when the attack happened. He said he heard a bang and ran up to the bridge to help. He said he saw one man jump out of a van and begin attacking people.

When Al-Ostta and her friend ran up to London Bridge, she said she and her friend were told by officers to run away. Al-Ostta provided video footage to The Guardian which showed at least three injured people being treated for their injuries on the bridge.

"I saw people moving, but we though, f---, this is a serious thing," Al-Ostta said.

Here are some tweets from the scene:

Police reportedly have evacuated people from bars and restaurants in the vicinity of the London Bridge and Borough Market. Here's video of police entering a pub and ordering people to get down:

This story is developing...

It's unclear how many injuries or casualties have occurred, or at which locations, although media has reported multiple fatalities. Read Full Story