Police: Car crash in London is traffic accident, not terror

A car crash that injured 11 people outside a major London tourist attraction Saturday sparked fears of a terrorist attack but turned out to be simply a traffic accident, London police said.

The accident at 2:20 p.m. outside the popular Natural History Museum in the heart of central London brought a gigantic police response, including helicopters and hazardous area response teams, because of terrorist concerns.

Ambulance personel push a woman on a stretcher at the scene of an incident in central London, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017. London police say emergency services are outside the Natural History Museum in London after a car struck pedestrians. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Police said 11 people were injured when a car apparently mounted the pavement and hit pedestrians. Nine people were hospitalized with head and leg injuries that were not judged to be life-changing.

Panicky scenes ensued after the pedestrians were struck and it took nearly four hours for police to reassure the anxious public that it was not another terrorist attack.

Britons in general, and Londoners in particular, have been jumpy after a string of extremist attacks this year, including deadly attacks using vehicles to hit pedestrians on Westminster Bridge and London Bridge. Britain has been on a "severe" terrorist threat level indicating that the Joint Terrorism Analysis Center believes an attack is viewed as highly likely.

Police said one man at the scene, thought to be the driver, was detained. He has not been charged or identified.

(Photo via twitter)

(Photo via twitter)

Witnesses described a rush to leave the scene, nearby shops were evacuated and the sprawling museum, a favorite site for families with children, closed down early. Police established a large security cordon around the area within minutes.

Workers in a cafe near the Natural History Museum say they fled the scene in fear.

Marilin Mueller, 20, said she thought at first it was a traffic accident but had doubts when "loads of police cars" arrived.

"All of these police came marching down saying, 'Move, move.' They said, 'you need to evacuate,'" she said.

Dieon Rurora said people were running down the street to get away and some fell.

"It was quite scary," he said.

One woman draped in a red blanket was led away by a paramedic after the crash. Others were seen leaving with their legs bandaged.

Britain's policemen stand at the scene of an incident in central London, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017. London police say emergency services are outside the Natural History Museum in London after a car struck pedestrians. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

The crash took place on a day when the central London museum district was teeming with pedestrians. Photographs showed a dented silver car and a man being pinned to the ground outside the museum. A police forensics officer in blue coveralls took pictures of the crash site.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan tweeted that he was in close contact with Assistant Metropolitan Police Commissioner Mark Rowley, who plays a lead role in the police's counter-terrorism operation.

The Natural History Museum closed after the crash but its neighbor, the famed Victoria and Albert Museum, remained open.

British Prime Minister Theresa May thanked the first responders and the public for their help and said her thoughts were with the injured.

Britain's Police and a forensic investigator at the scene of an incident in central London, Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017. London police say emergency services are outside the Natural History Museum in London after a car struck pedestrians. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)

LONDON (AP) — Five military horses spooked by noise from a building site bolted during routine exercises on Wednesday near Buckingham Palace, threw off four riders and caused chaos as they galloped loose through central London streets and collided with vehicles during the busy morning rush hour.

The commotion erupted when the horses from the Household Cavalry, which were conducting an extended exercise for an upcoming military parade, presumably became alarmed by the sound of concrete falling off a moving walkway at a construction site in Belgravia, a swanky neighborhood just to the west of the palace.

Five of the seven horses ran off and four soldiers were thrown off. Three of them were hospitalized with injuries. None of them were deemed to be life-threatening.

The horses — minus their riders — then ran through main roads in central London, hitting vehicles and stunning commuters as they headed to work. The horses were all captured shortly after and are back at the barracks in Hyde Park undergoing medical tests.

Witnesses saw one of the loose animals crashing into a taxi waiting outside the Clermont Hotel nearby, shattering windows. Another of the animals crashed into a tour bus, smashing the windshield.

Pictures and videos shared widely across social media show two of the horses — one white, one black — running at speed down Aldwych, in between London’s historic financial center and the busy West End theater district.

The white horse's face and legs were soaked in blood. A British Army spokesperson was not able to confirm what caused the injury.

Megan Morra, who was on her way to work, told the BBC that she saw the striking image of the white horse with a head injury.

“There was a lot of blood,” she said. “I was a bit distressed to be honest, looking at the poor horse.”

The horses are from the Household Cavalry, the ceremonial guard of the monarch and a feature of state functions in London.

The extent of the injuries the horses suffered were not immediately known.

In a video statement on X, formerly Twitter, Matt Woodward, Commanding Officer of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, said around 150 horses are exercised every morning in parks and on the roads to keep them fit and get them used to the surroundings and the noise so they are less easily panicked during parades.

“This morning, however, a small group of horses were spooked by some construction works on a quiet side road in Belgravia where building materials were dropped from height right next to them," he said.

“Thankfully, considering the frequency of exercise and numbers of horses involved, this type of incident is extremely rare," Woodward added., He thanked the emergency responders and members of the public for reacting quickly.

“This enabled swift treatment of our soldiers and helped bring our injured horses to safety,” he added.

The London Ambulance Service said it treated four people across three separate incidents in the space of 10 minutes after the incident erupted around 8:30 a.m.

Two horses on the loose bolt through the streets of London near Aldwych, on Wednesday April 24, 2024. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

A white horse on the loose bolts through the streets of London near Aldwych, on Wednesday April 24, 2024. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

A white horse on the loose bolt through the streets of London near Aldwych, on Wednesday April 24, 2024. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

Two horses on the loose bolt through the streets of London near Aldwych, on Wednesday April 24, 2024. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)

Two horses on the loose bolt through the streets of London near Aldwych, on Wednesday April 24, 2024. (Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)