The Muslim centre’s Imam protected the 48-year-old man from the angry crowd.
One man has been confirmed dead, and another 10 are injured after a van ploughed into pedestrians outside a mosque in Finsbury Park, north London.
The incident occurred shortly after midnight. Worshippers had just left the mosque on the Seven Sisters Road following prayers during Ramadan.
Prime Minister Theresa May said it is being treated as “potential terrorist attack”.
"Imam saved #Finsbury Park attacker's life from angry worshippers & detained him until he was arrested by police", the centre's CEO tells me
— Ashish Joshi (@ashishskynews) June 19, 2017
The driver of the van, a 48-year-old man who has been arrested and detained by police, was pulled from the vehicle and pinned to the ground by members of the public.
Footage has emerged of the moment police arrived to arrest the alleged attacker:
The moment the police are taking the man who ploughed pedestrians in #FinsburyPark https://t.co/Yr7mgS1mcz
— Hamza (@MacrobianNomad) June 19, 2017
The Muslim Welfare House have released this statement on the incident:
I'm live from 6am at #FinsburyPark for @GMB as one man dies, many injured, as van drives into crowd of Muslims by 'a potential terrorist' pic.twitter.com/kGTaY3h1Gb
— ranvir singh (@ranvir01) June 19, 2017
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, released the following statement:
“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.”
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