Amid the devastation that struck Westminster on Wednesday, killing three innocent people and injuring dozens more, humanity rang strong as passers-by rushed to the aid of victims.

Members of the public were quick to respond to the sight of wounded people caught in the path of the attacker's car on Westminster Bridge, comforting and in some cases performing first aid on casualties as they lay in the road in the minutes before emergency services arrived.

The devastation arose after the attacker, armed with two long knives, drove his car through a crowd of people on the bridge, before stabbing a police officer to death on the grounds of Parliament.

Images show strangers tending to casualties in the trail of destruction left in the wake of the attacker’s onslaught, which saw him mount the 4x4 onto the pavement and plough into pedestrians.

One woman can be seen cradling a female victim’s head on the pavement as blood trails from underneath her, while another shows a member of the public appearing to give CPR to an injured man lying on the side of the road.

In other images a bloodied man can be seen lying on the ground with several strangers comforting him, and an elderly man can be seen clutching his leg in the road while two members of the public kneel down beside him.

One woman hit by the attacker's car before he reached Parliament was confirmed dead by a doctor at St Thomas' Hospital after suffering “catastrophic injuries”.

Speaking to reporters outside St Thomas’s Hospital following the attack, which is situated immediately at the southern end of Westminster Bridge, junior doctor Colleen Anderson confirmed the woman was the first fatality in the attack.

“She was under the wheel of a bus. She died, [medics] confirmed her death at the scene,” she said.

Ms Anderson added that she treated a police officer in his thirties with a head injury who had been taken to King's College Hospital. In his statement to the press, Metropolitan Police acting deputy commissioner Mark Rowley said three officers were among those injured on the bridge.

Another woman who fell into the Thames was rescued and given urgent medical treatment on a nearby pier.

A party of French schoolchildren were among those targeted on the bridge, while four students from Edge Hill University in Ormskirk were also hurt — two described as “walking wounded”, and another couple said to have minor injuries.

Romanian and South Korean tourists were also caught up in the tragedy.

Van driver Mitchell Spree, 27, told The Independent he was driving along Embankment when he saw people being evacuated from nearby buildings.

In pictures: Westminster attack Show all 9 1 /9 In pictures: Westminster attack In pictures: Westminster attack An air ambulance lands after gunfire sounds were heard close to the Palace of Westminster in London PA wire In pictures: Westminster attack MPs wait until the situation is under control in Westminster. 'The alleged assailant was shot by armed police,' David Lidington, leader of the House of Commons, told the house. BBC News In pictures: Westminster attack Crowds gather in Westminster after shooting incident, which police are treating as terror attack BBC News In pictures: Westminster attack Police were also called to an incident on Westminster Bridge nearby AP In pictures: Westminster attack Early reports indicate the car, which mounted the pavement on Westminster Bridge and mowed into around a dozen people, was the same vehicle which then rammed into the railings of the Palace of Westminster, just around the corner Reuters In pictures: Westminster attack Security sources described the suspected assailant as a middle-aged Asian man, who is understood to have left the car before attacking a police officer with a seven-to-eight inch knife PA wire In pictures: Westminster attack Police have asked people to avoid the immediate area to allow emergency services to deal with the ongoing incident AP In pictures: Westminster attack One woman has died and a number of others, including the police officer, have been hurt, according to a junior doctor at St Thomas' Hospital Reuters In pictures: Westminster attack At least three gun shots were heard by those inside Westminster, and proceedings in the House of Commons have been suspended AP

He said: “Then we pulled on to the bridge. A lady was lying at the entrance to the bridge. There were about five more people.

"She was crying. She was speaking to the paramedic. I don't know what the others were like. The police asked us to leave our van. It's still on the bridge. It's shocking."