LONDON — British police responded to multiple security incidents across London on Saturday as a van plowed into pedestrians on London Bridge, killing at least one person, and at least one assailant went on a stabbing rampage in an area of the capital known for its pubs and lively nightlife. The police hasve yet to confirm the number of attackers involved in the incidents, but some reports said that two of them were killed in police firing. The attacks come days ahead of a June 8 election and less than two weeks after a suicide bomber killed 22 people at a pop concert by U.S. singer Ariana Grande in Manchester in northern England. Prime Minister Theresa May confirmed that the “terrible incident in London” was being treated as “a potential act of terrorism.”

She will hold an emergency ministerial meeting later on Sunday and Facebook has activated its safety check function for people in London to let their loved ones know they are safe. London’s river Thames police said it was working with the lifeboat rescue service to help evacuate people caught up in the attack, described by police as a terrorist incident. "Whatever the United States can do to help out in London and the U. K., we will be there - WE ARE WITH YOU. "We saw injured people on the road, injured people on the pavement," witness Will Heaven told Sky News.Soon after, reports started coming in of stabbings at Borough Market, a nearby area full of bars and restaurants surrounding a popular food market. Terrorism struck at the heart of London, police said Sunday, after a vehicle veered off the road and mowed down pedestrians on London Bridge and witnesses told of men with large knives stabbing passersby at nearby Borough Market.The violence turned a summery Saturday night in an area packed with bars and restaurants into a scene of panic and chaos, with officers running through crowded streets screaming for people to flee and lifeboats drafted to help clear the area.The London Ambulance Service said at least 20 injured people had been taken to six hospitals, and British media said several people had been killed. Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Watch: The man who took the attackers' photo

"I saw about 20 or 30 people rushing to get back into the pub and five seconds later a big white van came screeching down the pavement," he told BBC Radio 5 live. London, United Kingdom | AFP | A van ploughed into pedestrians and several people were stabbed in central London Saturday, police and witnesses said, leaving “multiple” casualties in what police called a “terrorist” attack days before a general election. It also recalled an attack on Westminster Bridge when 52-year-old British Muslim convert Khalid Mahmood rammed his car into pedestrians before crashing into the barriers surrounding parliament and then stabbing a police officer to death. "I saw that man with a knife in his hand and after that a man started screaming so I knew something wrong was happening.
A van travelling at approximately 50 mph ploughs into pedestrians on London Bridge; the three occupants then abandon the van and embark on a stabbing spree in Borough Market before being shot dead by officers of the Metropolitan Police. At least six civilians are killed.