A car crashed Thursday into the gates of Downing Street in central London, where the home and office of the British prime minister are located, triggering a rapid, intense security response in one of the most heavily fortified London sites. No one was injured and police said they are not treating the incident as terrorism-related.
Issued by:
Police have arrested a man on suspicion of criminal damage and dangerous driving, and local officers, rather than counter-terrorism detectives, are handling the investigation.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was in his office at the time of the crash, which brought back memories of the attacks in London’s government district.
It was not immediately determined whether the crash was intentional. Video footage posted on social media showed a silver hatchback car approaching the gates at low speed across Whitehall, the main road in London’s government district.
“I heard a loud noise and looked up to see several police officers with taser guns shouting at the man,” said witness Simon Parry, 44. “Several police vehicles arrived and evacuated the area very quickly. “
The BBC showed a photo of officers taking away a man with his hands handcuffed behind his back.
Footage captured soon after showed a car with its trunk open to tall metal gates. Several police officers searched the car thoroughly, removing items from the trunk and interior of the car and placing them in evidence bags.
About two hours after the crash, a car transporter arrived to pick up the car.
Officers cordoned off a large area of London’s government district, but removed the barriers less than two hours after the crash, allowing people to return to Whitehall. The street is usually full of civil servants and tourists who want to see the nearby Parliament House and other historical buildings.
“A small cordon remains in place outside Downing Street after a car crashed through the gates earlier this afternoon,” the Metropolitan Police said in a statement. “The incident is being dealt with by local officers in Westminster and is not currently being treated as terrorism-related.”
Downing Street is a narrow street with a row of Georgian houses that includes the prime minister’s official residence at No. 10.
Public access to the streets is restricted and the heavy iron gates are guarded at all times by armed police officers. Bollards and metal crowd barriers also help prevent threats.
The gates were built in 1989 in response to threats from Irish Republican Army militants. In 1991 the IRA fired three mortars into the road, one of which exploded behind No. 10 as Prime Minister John Major presides over a Cabinet meeting inside. Three policemen and a civilian suffered minor injuries.
The area was targeted in 2017, when an extremist inspired by the Islamic State group killed four people with a car on Westminster Bridge before stabbing a policeman to death outside Parliament.
Seats of power around the world are often magnets for protest, and sometimes violent attacks.
The incident occurred three days after a man crashed a rented truck into a security barrier outside the White House in Washington, got out and started waving a Nazi flag around. Sai Varshith Kandula, 19, was charged with damaging property in the US.
(AP)
