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A van ran over worshipers while they were exiting a mosque in North London early Monday morning. Metropolitan Police arrived on the scene shortly after midnight (12:20 A.M. local time). They reported that “a number of casualties” were being treated for injuries.
The person behind the wheel of that van has been arrested. He has been identified as 47-year-old Darren Osborne of Cardiff, Wales.
“Officers are on the scene with other emergency services,” the Metropolitan Police statement said. “There are a number of casualties being worked on at the scene. There has been one person arrested. Enquiries continue.”
Worshippers left the mosque right after midnight when the van struck. A witness who lived close-by reported that she heard screaming. “From the window, I started hearing a lot of yelling and screeching, a lot of chaos outside. Everybody was shouting: ‘A van’s hit people, a van’s hit people.’ There was this white van stopped outside Finsbury Park mosque that seemed to have hit people who were coming out after prayers had finished.”
A 47-year-old Welshman named Darren Osborne has been charged in the attack. Osborne is accused of plowing his van into a crowd of 10 pedestrians outside of a mosque in Finsbury Park, London. He has been charged with suspicion of attempted murder.
Video footage showed people lying motionless on the ground while an enraged crowd surrounded the suspect.
https://twitter.com/abcnews/status/876594343179464705
via Independent:
Several pedestrians have been injured after being hit by a van in London. Witnesses said the vehicle veered off the road into crowds outside Finsbury Park Mosque but it was unclear whether the collision was deliberate.
Footage showed injured people motionless on the pavement as angry crowds surrounded a man believed to be the driver. Police did not confirm claims Muslims leaving the mosque after Tarawih prayers performed for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
According to Twitter user @Known_As_H, who witnessed the event unfold, civilian bystanders neutralized the suspect, holding him down until police arrived.
https://twitter.com/Known_As_H/status/876584605276676097
https://twitter.com/Known_As_H/status/876587436192575488
https://twitter.com/Known_As_H/status/876591228179161088
https://twitter.com/Known_As_H/status/876597012518645760
https://twitter.com/Known_As_H/status/876598312874512385
https://twitter.com/Known_As_H/status/876604780952653824
While bystanders wrestled the suspect to the ground, an imam from the Muslim Welfare House directed the crowd to remain calm and not harm Osborne.
via The Guardian:
After a van ploughed into a group of people in Finsbury Park, members of the public wrestled the suspect to the ground. An imam from the Muslim Welfare House then urged the crowd to remain calm.
The imam was named by the Muslim Welfare House as Mohammed Mahmoud. In a statement Toufik Kacimi, the mosque and welfare centre’s chief executive, praised Mahmoud’s bravery which he said “helped calm the immediate situation after the incident and prevented further injuries and potential loss of life”.
Footage from mobile phones at the scene when Osborne was being held on the ground captures the voice of a man shouting: “No one touch him – no one! No one!”
