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Forensics officers work near the car that crashed into security barriers outside the Houses of Parliament in London. Image Credit: AP

LONDON:  London's Metropolitan Police say that they are treating the crash outside of Parliament as a terrorist incident.

Three people were injured, one seriously, in the incident in London, close to where five people were killed last year in another vehicle attack.

Authorities said in a statement Tuesday that a man in his 20s was arrested on suspicion of terrorist offenses after the silver Ford Fiesta collided with a number of cyclists and pedestrians before crashing into the barriers during the morning rush hour.


He is in custody. No one else was in the car, which is being searched at the scene of the accident.

Counter-terror experts probe London crash 

A forensics investigator works at the scene after a car crashed outside the Houses of Parliament. Reuters

British counter-terror police will lead the investigation into Tuesday's car crash outside the UK parliament in London that injured "a number of pedestrians", but Scotland Yard said it was still "keeping an open mind".


"While we are keeping an open mind, the Met's Counter-Terrorism Command is leading the investigation into the #Westminster incident," the force said in a Twitter statement.

No fatalities expected  

 No people are thought to have sustained "life-threatening" injuries after a car crash, police said.

"At this stage, officers do not believe that anybody is in a life-threatening condition," the Scotland Yard statement said.

Car crashes into barriers at UK parliament

 A number of people were injured after a car collided with security barriers outside London's parliament building on Tuesday and a man who drove the vehicle was arrested, police said.


"The male driver of the car was detained by officers at the scene. A number of pedestrians have been injured. Officers remain at the scene. We will issue further info when we have it," London's police force said in a statement on Twitter.

A car that crashed outside the Houses of Parliament is surrounded by members of the emergency services in Westminster. Reuters


Footage on social media showed heavily armed police response units arriving at the scene, with the area outside the parliament building in central London cordoned off.


Police said they could not immediately say whether it was a terrorism-related incident or not.

"We're still trying to piece it together," a spokeswoman said.

Police stand in the street after a car crashed outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London. Reuters

In March 2017, Khalid Masood, 52, killed four people on nearby Westminster Bridge before he stabbed to death an unarmed police officer in the grounds of parliament. He was shot dead at the scene.

It was the first of five attacks on Britain last year which police blamed on terrorism.

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Armed police officers stand at a cordon after a car crashed outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, London. Image Credit: Reuters
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