London Terror Attack: Five Dead, 40 Injured Near Parliament; Suspect Shot Dead Wednesday March 22,2017

Five people were killed and about 40 injured in London on Wednesday March 22,2017 after a car ploughed into pedestrians and a suspected Islamist-inspired attacker stabbed a policeman close to Britain's parliament

The dead, in what police called a "marauding terrorist attack," included the assailant and the policeman he stabbed. The other three victims were among those hit by the car as it sped across Westminster Bridge before crashing into railings just outside parliament.

This is the path of destruction in London on Wednesday March 22,2017 when pedestrians on Westminster Bridge were mowed down by a frantic driver before a police officer in the Houses of Parliament was stabbed.

 The terror began at the south London end of the bridge when a driver in a Hyundai 4X4 mounted the pavement, mowing down the first pedestrians.

 He continued along the pavement, ploughing through at least a dozen people in total, before coming to a stop at the Houses of Parliament where he crashed his Hyundai 4X4 into railings.

 Either he or another attacker then burst through Old Palace Yard at the Houses of Parliament where a police officer was stabbed

Prime Minister Theresa May condemned the attack as "sick and depraved".

"The location of this attack was no accident," she said in a statement outside her 10 Downing Street office late in the evening.

"The terrorist chose to strike at the heart of our capital city, where people of all nationalities, religions and cultures come together to celebrate the values of liberty, democracy and freedom of speech."

Any attempt to defeat those values through violence was "doomed to failure", May said.

Mark Rowley, Britain's most senior counter-terrorism officer, told that the attack started when a car was driven over Westminster Bridge, hitting and injuring members of the public and three police officers.

"A car then crashed near to parliament and at least one man, armed with a knife, continued the attack and tried to enter parliament," Rowley said.

He said the police's "fast-paced investigation" was working on the assumption that the attack was "Islamist-related terrorism". Police believed they knew the identity of the attacker but would not provide details at this stage, he said.

Details from the attack outside UK parliament

- Shots rang outside the Palace of Westminster and a man ran through the gates into the front yard of the compound apparently waving a knife.

- A policeman has been stabbed and his apparent attacker shot by officers.

- A short while later Reuters photographs showed at leaded four people on the ground bleeding heavily. An air ambulance landed in Parliament Square as medics rushed to help the injured people.

- Armed police cleared the area around the incident and Parliament Square was closed to traffic.

- A spokesperson said British Prime Minister Theresa May is safe , but did not say where she was when the attack took place.

- British police in a statement said they were treating it as terrorism-related incident, "unless it is known otherwise".

- A car reportedly ploughed through pedestrians on Westminster Bridge just before the incident, leaving up to a dozen injured.

Coincidentally, the London attack has taken place on the first anniversary of the Brussels terror attacks. Exactly a year from this day, on March 22, 2016, three coordinated suicide bombings had ripped through Belgian capital Brussels, killing 32 civilians.