VIDEO: Man arrested after car hits pedestrians near Natural History Museum

SEVERAL people have been injured and a man has been arrested after a car ploughed into pedestrians in one of London’s busiest tourist areas.

The man was held after an incident near the Natural History Museum (NHM) in South Kensington on Saturday afternoon.

Video footage posted on Twitter showed a man being restrained on the ground in the middle of Exhibition Road in front of what is believed to be a Toyota Prius minicab that had collided with a silver Vauxhall saloon.

Pictures and footage from the scene showed street damage and a massive police presence in the capital’s museum district, home to the NHM, the Science Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

The area is a magnet for tourists, including lots of families with young children.

Downing Street said that Prime Minister Theresa May is being kept up to date with developments.

Scotland Yard said that “a number of pedestrians” were hurt in an incident in Exhibition Road in South Kensington shortly after 2.20pm.

We will release more information when we can – our information must be accurate. #ExhibitionRoad #SouthKensington

— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) October 7, 2017

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: “Officers are on scene, and the London Ambulance Service have been called.

“A man has been detained at the scene.

“Inquiries to establish the circumstances and motive are under way.”

A crime scene? Full armed police locked the whole area out outside of @V_and_A in London. The helicopter above us doesn’t seem to leave pic.twitter.com/H9SlNFkD9h

— Afra Wang (@afrazhaowang) October 7, 2017

Afra Wang posted a picture of emergency services on Twitter, writing: “A crime scene? Full armed police locked the whole area out outside of @V_and_A in London. The helicopter above us doesn’t seem to leave.”

Video footage on Twitter showed a man being pinned to the ground. None of the four people around him were in uniform.

Behind them is the black Toyota with its driver’s door open.

An NHM spokeswoman said: “A vehicle has collided with pedestrians near the Natural History Museum entrance at Exhibition Road.

“The Museum’s visitors and staff are always our first priority.

“We are working with emergency services to assess the incident and we are doing all we can.”

There’s been a serious incident outside the Museum. We are working w/ @metpoliceuk and will provide an update when we have more information

— Natural History Museum (@NHM_London) October 7, 2017

Further to an incident on #ExhibitionRoad today, the V&A remains open for visitors but entrances on Exhibition Road are currently closed.

— V&A (@V_and_A) October 7, 2017

An eyewitness at the scene said: “We were walking near the Science Museum and heard a bang, bang… at first I thought it was gunfire.

“Then we walked past the scene of the accident and saw a guy pinned down by other men and lots of people calling the police.

“There didn’t appear to be many people hurt – a few sat by the side of the road but more looking shaken than anything.

“We were then ushered into the Science Museum and the area was quickly cleared of pedestrians.”

Workers in a cafe close the incident told how people fled the scene in a panic as police evacuated the area.

Merilin Mueller, 20, said: “It just seemed like an accident because there was a police car. We couldn’t see outside.

“Then there were loads of police cars and that’s when all of these police came marching down saying, ‘move, move’.

“They said, ‘you need to evacuate’.”

Her colleague at Brown and Rosie, Kayla Spark, 23, said: “They came into the shop really aggressively.”

She added: “Someone outside said they heard what sounded like gunshots, but I think it was just the car colliding.”

Dieon Rurora, 25, who also works in the cafe, said: “People were running down the street, falling over. It was quite scary.”

He said he believed the car involved in the collision was a grey saloon, which is now boxed in behind four police cars, although he did not see the collision.

Enamul Hoque was in a nearby Chinese restaurant when events unfolded.

He told Sky News he saw people running in Exhibition Road, adding: “Then all of a sudden … a large gathering of policemen turned up in yellow vests, just clearing up the road (telling) people to leave the restaurant, leave bags behind.

“People just seemed panicky, panicked and running, really, I don’t think anyone knew what was going on.

“There was a large contingent of policemen saying ‘go, go, run, run’.”

Minister for London Greg Hands said on Twitter: “Concerned at events at the Natural History Museum. Watching developments closely & thankful to our emergency services.”

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said: “Details are still emerging and I have spoken with and am in close contact with Assistant Met Commissioner Mark Rowley and our other emergency services.”

Mr Rowley is the head of UK counter-terrorism policing.