British police
have arrested seven people in the investigation into an attacker who killed
three people and injured about 40 before being shot to death by police,
Britain's
most senior counter-terrorism officer said on Thursday.
Mark Rowley
said the latest figures were that there were four dead including the attacker
and 29 people being treated in hospital, seven of whom were in a critical
condition. Police had said late on Wednesday that the death toll was five.
Rowley said
police had searched addresses in London, Birmingham and other parts of the
country in their investigation.
"It is
still our belief ... that this attacker acted alone and was inspired by
international terrorism. At this stage we have no specific information about
further threats to the public," Rowley said.
He said there
was a mix of nationalities among the dead but gave no details. The victims were
a policeman who was stabbed and two members of the public, a woman in her
mid-40s and a man in his mid-50s.
The fourth
dead was the assailant.
Police believe
they know the identity of the attacker but have not named him.
The attack on
Wednesday started when the assailant sped across Westminster Bridge in a car,
ramming pedestrians along the way. He then ran towards parliament and stabbed
the policeman before he was shot.
Three French
high-school students aged 15 or 16, who were on a school trip to London with
fellow students from Brittany, were among the injured.
French Foreign
Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault was expected to arrive in London to visit them at
hospital, French media reported.
Westminster
Bridge remained cordoned off with a strong police presence. The nearby
Westminster underground train station, normally a busy hub in the morning rush
hour, was not accessible from street level as it was within the cordon.
Parliament was
due to convene later in what Prime Minister Theresa May said late on Wednesday
was a sign that the attack would not disrupt British democracy or normal life
in the capital.
*REUTERS*
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