A man armed with a sword was arrested after an attack on people on the street and police officers in Hainault, East London, this Tuesday. Following the incident, five people were taken to hospital. Authorities do not establish any connection with cases of terrorism.
In a statement, cited by the newspaper The Guardianthe Metropolitan Police said: “Police and other emergency services are in Hainault following a serious incident in which a man armed with a sword has been detained.”
A 36-year-old man was arrested after police were called to receive information that a vehicle had been driven into a house near the Hainault train station, authorities said. According to Reuters, authorities have no indication that this is a case of terrorism and are not looking for another suspect.
“Working together with our emergency services partners, we treated five people at the scene and took all five to hospital. All teams have now left the scene,” emergency services told the British newspaper.
On social media, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was “absolutely devastated” by the attack in Hainault this morning and thanked the emergency services for “running towards danger”. The Mayor stated that more resources will be mobilized for the area. “The police officers and emergency services showed the best of our city – running into danger to protect others and I thank them from the bottom of my heart”, he wrote on social network X. “I ask people not to speculate until the details of this incident are confirmed by the police and to avoid posting images on social media”, he further appealed.
I am being regularly informed about the incident that occurred this morning at Hainault station,” said British Home Secretary James Cleverly on X. “My thoughts are with everyone who was affected.”
