London: 11 people injured when car plowed into them near Natural History Museum

The incident happened at 14:20 p.m. local time on Saturday when a car mounted the pavement outside the Natural History Museum in west London, colliding with several pedestrians in what is one of the city’s major and busy tourist areas.

Due to recent terror attacks involving vehicles this year in both the U.K. and Spain, fears were initially that another terrorist attack had been carried out near the museum.

London Metropolitan Police have arrested the man responsible for the incident, saying in a statement that it is being considered a road traffic investigation and is not a terrorist-related attack.

Eleven people injured in road traffic incident

According to the ambulance service in London, 11 people have been treated for mostly leg and head injuries, with two treated at the scene and nine victims were taken to the hospital. The deputy director of operations for the ambulance service, Peter McKenna, said in a statement that multiple resources had been sent to the scene of the incident, including paramedics in fast response cars, ambulance crews, incident response offices and a hazardous area response team.

As reported by Reuters, McKenna went on to say their crews worked closely with other emergency service teams at the scene of the incident and that their priority had been to get the victims to safety. He said they ensured the victims received the medical help they required as swiftly as possible. McKenna also said none of the injuries to the victims were life-changing or life-threatening.

Initial fears were that it was another terrorist attack

Concerns had initially been that the incident was a deliberate terrorist attack, as there have been five terror incidents in the U.K. so far this year. Three of those incidents involved vehicles, and as the current incident happened at the weekend, in an area of London popular with tourists, the emergency response was swift and strong.

BBC reporters later visited the scene of the incident, which occurred at the south end of Exhibition Road in London. The area is normally crowded on Saturday afternoon, with people dining, but they found it deserted. Eyewitnesses told the reporters that at the time of the incident, before it was confirmed to not be terror-related, police had run into each restaurant and bar, telling customers to leave immediately. There were reportedly people’s belongings and half-eaten meals left behind when people evacuated the restaurants.

All will be back to normal in London on Sunday

According to the BBC, London Mayor Sadiq Khan headed to Twitter following the incident to thank emergency responders and to wish a speedy recovery to the victims of the incident. Khan also assured local residents and visitors that London’s museums and all other attractions will be open as usual on Sunday.