British Prime Minister Theresa May gives a statement outside 10 Downing Street following the Finsbury Park mosque attack in London, Britain on June 19, 2017. At least one was killed and 10 others were injured when a van was driven into worshippers early morning on Monday near a north London mosque in what police have called a "major incident." (Xinhua)
LONDON, June 19 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May Monday condemned the latest terror attack targeting worshippers who were leaving a mosque in London, describing it as sickening as recent ones to hit Britain.
A 48-year-old white man drove a hired van into a group of Muslim worshippers early Monday morning, killing one and injuring 10 others, some seriously.
It was the third attack in London since March and the second using a vehicle as a deadly weapon.
May chaired a meeting in London of the national emergency committee, known as Cobra, to discuss the latest incident. Later she said the terror attack was every bit as sickening as recent ones to hit Britain.
May said the driver of the van had acted alone and the Metropolitan Police declared the attack as a terrorist incident within eight minutes.
May said: "Hatred and evil of this kind will never succeed. There has been far too much tolerance of extremism over many years."
"This was an attack on Muslims near their place of worship and like all terrorism, in whatever form, it shares the same fundamental goal. It seeks to drive us apart and to break the precious bonds of solidarity and citizenship that we share in this country," she said.
"There has been far too much tolerance of extremism in our country over many years and that means extremism of any kind including Islamophobia," the prime minister added.
Eyewitness said the attacker deliberately was driving the large van into a crowd of worshippers leaving a mosque.
The recent attacks on Westminster Bridge and London Bridge saw Muslim extremists using the same tactic, vehicles as a weapon of death.
The 48-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and is being questioned by detectives.
