London mosque attack: One dead as white van ploughs into Muslims

One person has been killed and ten more injured after a white van driver ploughed into Muslim worshipers near a north London mosque, in the latest terror attack to rock Britain.

A 48-year-old man has been arrested after the van, which was hired from south Wales, mounted the pavement and veered into a congregation outside the Muslim Welfare House, near Finsbury Park Mosque, shortly after they finished Ramadan evening prayers, known as taraweeh.

Heroic bystanders wrestled the suspect, who was clean-shaven with curly hair and wore a white t-shirt, to the floor and pinned him down until officers arrived, at around 12.20am, after he allegedly screamed: "I want to kill all Muslims", according to Daily Mail.

One fatality was confirmed at the scene, while a further eight are being treated across three London hospitals and two victims sustained minor injuries.

London Met Police say it is not yet clear if the man who died in Finsbury Park died as a result of the terror attack.

"The attack unfolded whilst a man was receiving first aid from the public at the scene - sadly, he has died," deputy assistant commission Neil Basu said this evening.

"Any causative link between his death and the attack will form part of our investigation.It is too early to state if his death was as a result of the attack."

The congregation of victims were heroically trying to save an elderly man who had collapsed at a bus stop, according to eyewitnesses, and it is unknown if this is the death recorded.

Emergency service crews were also seen giving cardiac massages to the injured in a desperate bid to save them, but unconfirmed reports that two other suspects fled the van were denied by police.

The police operation is being handled by counter-terrorism units, while the suspect has been taken to hospital and will be detained once he has been discharged, and will then face a mental health assessment.

Finsbury Park Mosque has undergone wholesale changes and become far more liberal under new leader Mohammed Kozbar, since the days when hook-handed hate preacher Abu Hamza was imam from 1997 until 2003.

Kozbar told The Sun: "Whoever did this, he did it to hurt people and it's a terrorist attack. We call it a terrorist attack as we called it in Manchester, Westminster and London Bridge."

Witnesses told MailOnline that they saw two additional suspects run away once the van had stopped, although these suggestions have now been quashed by the Met.

Atikur Arhman, 41, from Finsbury Park, said: "There was three people in there. They caught one and are looking for another two.

"An elderly man who just came from the mosque, he just fainted and people were picking him up when the van he just sped up and ran them over when the guy was one the floor."

"It's not safe anymore after what's been happening. It's not been safe to walk.

"Two people ran away and one got taken away to the police."

Fabian Santana, 22, went to a nearby chicken shop before coming out and seeing the carnage unfold.

He said: "I went in the chicken shop and my friend was outside, when I come back outside the same guy who was standing next to my friend was on the floor.

"If I didn't go in the chicken shop I could have been done for.

"I just feel like London for the last couple of weeks has not been safe. I'd rather go out of London."

Jamal, 21, told MailOnline: "I think it's terrible what happened in so many locations I don't know if I'm going to be alive tomorrow, I'm worried what's going to happen tomorrow, it's scary.

"It's not safe in London, total, 100 per cent it is not safe, I'm worried to come out of my house right now, it's not safe."

Jeremy Corbyn expressed his shock at the incident, which took place in the heart of his Islington North constituency.

He said: "I'm totally shocked at the incident at Finsbury Park tonight. I've been in touch with the mosques, police and Islington council regarding the incident.

"My thoughts are with those and the community affected by this awful event."

Prime Minister Theresa May described the attack as a "terrible incident", adding: "All my thoughts are with those who have been injured, their loved ones and the emergency services on the scene."

London Mayor Sadiq Khan urged people to remain vigilant, saying: "We don't yet know the full details, but this was clearly a deliberate attack on innocent Londoners, many of whom were finishing prayers during the holy month of Ramadan.

"While this appears to be an attack on a particular community, like the terrible attacks in Manchester, Westminster and London Bridge it is also an assault on all our shared values of tolerance, freedom and respect."

The Muslim Council of Britain condemned the attack as "the most violent manifestation" yet of Islamophobia and called for extra security around mosques, which the Met has now promised.

Another witness, a courier who gave his name as Andrew, said he saw three people on the floor and at least one of them appeared to be in Muslim dress.

The 45-year-old, of St Albans, Hertfordshire, said he was driving back from a night shift when he saw the aftermath of the collision.

He said: 'When I drove past slowly I could count three people on the floor and police were performing CPR on one of them.

"The guy having CPR performed on him was in a gown, ethnic clothing."

One resident told how he jumped out of the way as the van struck pedestrians.

The man, who did not want to be named, said: "The gentleman went straight down this road, people were just conversing, talking, just doing what we're doing. And he just came into all of us.

"There was a lot of people. We got told to move straight away. I was shocked, shocked, shocked. There were bodies around me.

"Thank God I just moved to the side, I just jumped. Everyone is hurt. Everyone is actually hurt."

Jennifer Heape said: "Apparently a van has ploughed into people coming from Finsbury Park mosque. People are reporting of several injured, some fatalities.

"Police are escorting people home very calmly. They are making sure people stay indoors.

"No panic, but it's very serious. A LOT of helicopters."

An eyewitness who lives on Seven Sisters Road told the BBC there were people "shouting and screaming".

She added: "Everyone was shouting 'a van's hit people'.

"There was this white van stopped outside Finsbury Park Mosque that seems to have hit people who were coming out of the mosque after prayers finished."

A Metropolitan Police helicopter was seen circling overhead as photographs posted on social media showed a huge response from the emergency services.

Dozens of police cars and vans cordoned off a large area of the normally bustling thoroughfare as stunned locals gathered at the scene.

Images on Twitter appeared to show a clean-shaven white man with black hair being detained by police officers behind a van, surrounded by a group of shouting onlookers.

The vehicle in question appears to have been rented from a company based in Wales, Pontaclun Van Hire.

Mehdi, a 38-year-old worshipper, told the Evening Standard: "There were loads of people coming out and the van took a left and went straight into them.

"The crowd caught a guy. He tried to do a London Bridge thing."

A woman named Hajal said her sister witnessed the immediate aftermath of the incident.

She told LBC Radio: "Everyone was just running everywhere she didn't realise what was going on at first until she people on the floor.

"She ran to see first victim and realised it was a family friend."

"An old man didn't have a pulse. Police came and took over. She said it could have been an accident.

"At first she thought there was some sort of fight. There were 15 to 20 people hitting somebody - she didn't realise it was the man who ran over the people.

"She said someone was still under the van but he was breathing. The second [more seriously injured] person was family friend who at first said he couldn't feel his legs."

Another person who lives nearby, Ishmael, told the station: "I pray there regularly. I'm there right now. There's a very close friend of mine and in a very bad critical condition.

"I hear from the other guys that they just stand there and have a coffee.

"The van drove to there. I had just left the area because I wasn't feeling very well.

"One of my friends witnessed it. He told me the van went through the people standing there. 6 or 7 people, and one Asian guy is definitely dead.

"My friend is in bad critical condition. He was under the van. His head was bleeding.

"Someone took a video of him. Very shocking video. He's got family and a wife.

"The police answered the phone and told me he's alright. But the other friend they don't really know his condition. They're both in ambulances and heading to a London Hospital.

"Something's going to happen here one day here. Since that incident I had a feeling something was going to happen to the Mosque. We don't have no security.

"This is Ramadan and there was no security at all. Anyone who wants to do anything can come there. If someone wants to kill hundreds they can come there easily."

Abdikadar Warfa said: "I saw a man underneath the van. He was bleeding. My friend said he had to lift the van, I was busy with a man who tried to escape.

"My friend said he said some words, but I didn't hear it.

"They (people who were hit) were mostly young. They are very bad.

"I tried to stop him (the suspect), some people were hitting him but I said stop him and keep him until the police came.

"He was trying to run away but people overpowered him. He was fighting to run away."

The widower of murdered MP Jo Cox spoke out on Twitter as news of the attack broke, saying that the far right and Islamist terrorists shared an ideology and both must be defeated.

Brendan Cox tweeted: "Far right facists&Islamist terrorists are driven by same hatred of difference, same ideology of supremacy&use same tactics.We'll defeat both.

"When islamist terrorists attack we rightly seek out hate preachers who spur them on. We must do the same to those who peddle Islamophobia".

Mother-of-two Mrs Cox, who represented the Batley and Spen conctituency in West Yorkshire, was shot and stabbed as she arrived for a constituency surgery in Birstall on June 16 last year.

London Ambulance Service Deputy Director of Operations, Kevin Bate said: "We were called at 12.15am to reports of a road traffic collision at Seven Sisters Road.

"We have sent a number of ambulance crews, advance paramedics and specialist responses teams to the scene. An advance trauma team from London's Air Ambulance has also been dispatched by car.

"We are working closely with other members of the emergency services at the scene.

"Our priority is to assess the level and nature of injuries and ensure those in the most need are treated first and taken to hospital.

"More information will follow when we have it."

The incident comes almost three months to the day since Khalid Masood killed five people after mounting the pavement at Westminster Bridge and stabbing a police officer to death.

Earlier this month, three Jihadis drove into pedestrians on London Bridge before launching a knife attack in Borough Market, killing eight and wounding another 48.