Man dies as van hits worshippers in Finsbury Park

A man drove a van into a group of worshippers near a north London mosque, killing one and injuring 10. The van struck people after mounting the pavement just after midnight outside Muslim Welfare House, near Finsbury Park Mosque. A 48-year-old man has been arrested. The Home Secretary said police were treating it as a ‘terrorist incident’. One eyewitness, Abdul Rahman, said the driver said he wanted to ‘kill all Muslims’. Rahman told the BBC he helped to detain the man. Counter-terrorism officers are at the scene, the Metropolitan Police said. Extra police are also being deployed to reassure communities, especially those observing Ramadan. Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, said: “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.” He also said his ’thoughts and prayers’ were with those affected. Metropolitan Police’s deputy assistant commissioner Neil Basu said the attack began when the van was driven into a man already being given first aid by the public on the pavement. He added: “Sadly that man has died. It is too early to state if his death was a result of this attack.” All the victims were Muslim and there are currently no other suspects, he said.