Incident outside Natural History Museum in London

Today, one man was detained after a number of pedestrians were injured in a collision with a car near the city’s Natural History Museum .

British media reported a car had mounted the sidewalk outside the tourist attraction, one of several large museums in that area of South Kensington , west London , and police said a man had been detained at the scene.

“A vehicle has collided with pedestrians near the Natural History Museum entrance at Exhibition Road,” the museum, one of the most popular visitor attractions in the country, said in a statement.

“Inquiries to establish the circumstances and motive are underway,” police said.

On Twitter, London Mayor Sadiq Khan shared his statement on the incident in South Kensington.

A spokeswoman for the London force said counter-terrorism officers were assessing the incident but had not yet reached a conclusion as to the circumstances, yet Britain is on its second highest security alert level , meaning an attack by militants is considered highly likely. There have been five attacks described by the authorities as terrorism this year, three involving vehicles.

In March , a man drove a car into pedestrians on London’s Westminster Bridge killing four before stabbing a police officer to death in the grounds of parliament.

Three Islamist militants drove into people on London Bridge in June before stabbing people at nearby restaurants and bars, killing eight. The same month, a van was driven into worshippers near a mosque in north London which left one man dead.

sg