London Bridge terror attack: Witnesses tell of horror as van veers into crowd before several people stabbed near Borough Market

Witnesses told how they fled in fear or barricaded themselves into bars and restaurants after a van careered into pedestrians on London Bridge before people were stabbed in Borough Market in a terror attack on the capital.

The speeding vehicle veered into crowds on the bridge before multiple stabbings were carried out in the Borough Market area, according to traumatised witnesses who were enjoying a night out or making their way home on Saturday night.

Six people were killed and 20 injured as Scotland Yard confirmed officers were dealing with two terror incidents at separate sites involving a van attack, gunfire and multiple stabbings. The force said a third incident in Vauxhall was not connected.

Prime Minister Theresa May said she was being updated by officials on the "fast-moving" situation, adding: "I can confirm that the terrible incident in London is being treated as a potential act of terrorism."

Five or six people are believed to have been mowed down by a white van on the bridge at about 10.10pm.

Witnesses then described seeing a man with a large blade around 10 inches long in the Borough Market area and several people bloodied and with stab wounds after they were attacked inside a restaurant and the Southwark Tavern pub.

A witness named Eric, who was on the south side of London Bridge when he saw the van on the wrong side of the road, told BBC Radio 5Live: "It veered to the right and people were trying to run away from it."

When it stopped, he said three people got out and he thought they were going to help the people who had been hit.

"But the three people literally started kicking them, punching them, and took out knives. It was a rampage really," he said.

The three men are then said to have ran off towards the nearby bars and restaurants.

Husband and wife Ben and Natalie told BBC Radio 5 Live they were outside Borough Market, coming up the entrance of the underground when they saw the incident.

London Bridge and Borough Market terrorist attack

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Ben said: "We saw people running away and then I saw a man in red with a large blade, at a guess 10 inches long, stabbing a man, about three times.

"It looked like the man had been trying to intervene, but there wasn't much he could do. He was being stabbed quite coldly and he slumped to the ground."

Ben said the man walked away boldly with another person, and went towards the Southwark Tavern. He said they saw a metal chair being thrown towards the man.

"Then we heard three gunshots, definitely gunshots, and we ran."

Another witness who was in Southwark Street told the radio station: "I heard this young man try to get the attention of an ambulance saying my friend has been stabbed inside the pub.

Emergency services treated the wounded on London Bridge
Yui Mok/PA Wire

"We saw one other guy who looked like he had been stabbed. He was trying to get the attention of the ambulance. He was knocking on the window.

"We saw him covered in blood. He was on his feet but he looked dazed. He also looked calm."

Jamie, a witness who was in a restaurant on Rochester Walk near London Bridge, said: "We were in the Black and Blue restaurant, we heard a fight and everyone got up and everyone rushed out of the restaurant and we heard a massive, massive bang.

"Then we hid under the table and people came into the restaurant and knocked a bunch of stuff over, like the till.

Armed Police officers on London Bridge (Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire )
Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

"And then we ran into the restaurant into the kitchen, where there was a bunch of other people and a guy had been stabbed and he was cut and he was bleeding quite a lot."

He added that they waited in the kitchen for "quite a while" before they were evacuated.

A female companion said: "We were in the restaurant and we just saw three guys come into the restaurant, stabbed someone in the face and someone in the stomach.

A paramedic rushes to the scene (Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire )
Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

"One of them had a big knife, then he came in and walked around the restaurant, I guess they just kind of stabbed anyone that they saw and knocked things on the ground and then we just hid."

Liam, who was in a flat above Southwark Tavern next to London Bridge, said: "We heard people screaming and we looked out and I saw people running down into the underground, and simply running in any direction they could.

"The restaurant opposite had been completely smashed up, and a crowd of people were pointing into the market saying 'he's down there'.

"They got the attention of what looked like an armed police car, and pointed down Borough Market. The car screeched in that direction and we heard what sounded like five or six very loud gun shots."

People run along Borough High Street (Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire )
Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

Another witness in the London Bridge area, Thomas Daly, was watching the Champions League final in The Sheaf when he saw security people running outside towards the entrance.

He tried to leave when the match finished but found the doors were closed and they were unable to leave.

The 36-year-old, from Liverpool, said: "People were saying there had been a stabbing at Borough Market and they locked us in.

"We sat down again and some minutes later people started coming into the bar and people were getting a bit hysterical.

"A lot of people were streaming through the rear exit and we went outside and heard gunshots.

"I heard gunshots, at least two gunshots, and at that point the people who were trying to get out the back entrance came back inside.

"We went outside to the back, there was the gunfire and then we decided to come back in again."

Armed police then came into the bar and evacuated people, he added.

Holly Jones, a BBC reporter at the bridge when the incident happened, said a van had swerved off the road into a crowd of pedestrians.

"A white van driver came speeding - probably about 50mph - veered off the road into the crowds of people who were walking along the pavement," she told BBC News.

"He swerved right round me and then hit about five or six people. He hit about two people in front of me and then three behind.

"I'd say there are about four severely injured people. They all have paramedics assisting them at the moment."

Police officers on Borough High Street (Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire )
Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

Ms Jones said police were on the scene within two minutes, quickly followed by ambulances.

Police boats were searching the river - apparently looking for people who may have been thrown off the bridge, she said.

She said that among the injured was a French woman who told her she did not know where the two people who had been with her were.

People are lead to safety away from London Bridge
Carl Court/Getty Images

"She told me in French, 'I don't know where those two other people are'. So the police are checking the Thames," Ms Jones said.

"They were right near the edge of the bridge. It looks potentially they could have been thrown over."

Nick Archer, who was in the London Bridge area, told Sky News: "We came out (of a bar) on to the road and looked to my left and there was a guy, I thought he was just drinking but he was lying on the floor.

"And then a couple of seconds later, about three police vans flew past.

"He looked in a bad way."

Police and paramedics treat an injured person
Daniel Sorabji/AFP/Getty Images

A taxi driver called Chris told LBC he saw men armed with foot-long knives after a van drove on to the pavement.

He told the station: "I didn't see the van mount the kerb, but I saw everything else.

"A van came from London Bridge itself, went between the traffic light system and rammed it towards the steps. It knocked loads of people down.

"Then three men got out with long blades, 12 inches long and went randomly along Borough High Street stabbing people at random. I saw a young girl stabbed in the chest.

One witness reported having seen a van crashed into a lamppost after the bridge by the Barrowboy and Banker pub.

She added: "Just trying to get away at the moment. There are no trains leaving so we're just panicking a little."

Tony Murphy, who lives near the area, told Sky News he heard the sound of gunfire.

He said: "I thought at first it was fireworks then I recognised it was significant gunfire and that was the first instance.

"After that (came) the whole shooting match of ambulances and police.

"There was rapid fire because that's why I thought it was fireworks."

Will Orton, 25, told the Press Association: "We were in the Sheaf pub. Basically lots of people came running inside, we didn't really know what was going on.

"We thought maybe there was a fight or something outside. And then there were almost hundreds of people coming inside.

"The bouncers did a really good job, they shut the doors and locked everyone in.

"There was panic - it seemed like it was literally outside the door.

"People were coming inside and saying they had witnessed people being stabbed.

"They had seen and witnessed people being stabbed.

"It seemed like it was happening immediately outside the entrance."

Scotland Yard said officers were at the scene and they would update with further information. London Ambulance said multiple resources were attending the area.

In an update shortly after midnight, the force said in a series of tweets: “At 0025hrs 4/6/17 the incidents at #LondonBridge & #BoroughMarket were declared as terrorist incidents.

“The incident at #Vauxhall is a stabbing and is not connect to the incidents at #LondonBridge & #BoroughMarket.

“Please use common sense and restraint in circulating pics and videos of incidents #LondonBridge #BoroughMarket

The force had earlier tweeted: “From 10.08pm, officers responded to reports of a vehicle in collision with pedestrians on London Bridge.

“Officers have then responded to reports of stabbings in Borough Market. Armed officers responded and shots have been fired.

“Officers are now responding to an incident in the Vauxhall area.”

People have been injured not to call 999 unless it is a genuine emergency.

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