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Five people have died and at least 40 were injured after a knife-wielding terrorist drove a car into pedestrians before he attacked a police officer outside the Houses of Parliament.

Late tonight, Metropolitan Police updated the number of those dead to include three members of the public, the police office protecting parliament and the attacker himself.

Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said as many as 40 people were now injured and named the deceased officer as PC Keith Palmer, 48.

Three of the injured were police officers, two of whom were in a serious condition.

"One of those who died today was a police officer, PC Keith Palmer, a member of our parliamentary and diplomatic protection command," Mr Rowley said.

(Image: Met Police)

"Keith, aged 48, had 15 years service and was a husband and father.

"He was someone who left for work today expecting to return home at the end of his shift and he had every right to expect that to happen."

Eyewitnesses earlier described how the attacker deliberately mounted the pavement with a car on Westminster Bridge before hitting more than 12 people - including three police officers returning from a commendation ceremony.

The driver then reportedly got out of his car at the Houses of Parliament where he attempted to force his way past a security check-point.

After being confronted by police he reportedly attacked an officer with a knife before he was shot a number of times.

A dramatic picture from the scene shows the suspected terrorist being treated by medics as an armed police officer points a gun at him.

(Image: PA) (Image: PA)

Several medical staff and police watch over him as the man was wheeled on a stretcher in the parliament precinct.

The man's shirt is off and the blood-stained gloves of emergency services are on his chest.

Two knives are seen on the ground nearby.

Horrific pictures from Westminster Bridge showed a woman trapped under a red doubledecker bus and multiple people lying injured on the floor being comforted by friends and passersby.

A junior doctor who helped people at the scene described seeing "catastrophic" injuries.

As the attack took place, Theresa May was dramatically bundled from the House of Commons by police and Parliament was placed under lockdown.

The Prime Minister appeared in Downing Street tonight after a meeting of the Government’s emergency committee.

The PM condemned “the sick and depraved terrorist attack on the streets of our capital this afternoon”.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to all who have been affected - to the victims themselves and their family and friends, who waved their loved ones off but will not now be welcoming them home,” she said.

(Image: AFP)

Parliament will sit as normal tomorrow in a show of defiance.

Mr Rowley earlier said police had declared the attack as a terrorist incident.

He said the belief was there was only one attacker but police were still searching the area as thoroughly as possible.

"This is a day we planned for but we hoped would never happen," he said.

"Sadly, it is now a reality."

Mr Rowley said the officer who was killed in the attack was armed but, the BBC reports, police have now confirmed that the officer was unarmed.

Mr Rowley said late tonight investigators were working on the assumption the attacker was inspired by international terrorism.

Hundreds of witness statements had been taken while CCTV was being examined.

"We have hundreds of officers working on this investigation and they are focusing on the suspect's motivation, preparation and associates," he said.

"We are forensically examining a complicated crime scene that covers a wide area."

(Image: Alamy / Reuters / Twitter / PA)

Two victims were earlier said to be fighting for their lives at King's College Hospital tonight with another six also being treated at the south London trauma centre.

The eight consisted of six males and two females.

Chris Palin, assistant medical director at Kings College, said: "At 15.52 we went into a major incident having heard of the incident at Westminster.



"We have received a total of eight patients. Two of those are critically injured, six are stable.



"Of the eight, six are males and two are females. The care we are providing is still ongoing."

(Image: Reuters)

In another development, it has emerged a woman with "serious injuries" was pulled from the River Thames after jumping from Westminster Bridge to escape.

The woman, whose age currently remains unknown, is said to either have jumped or been forced into the river by some means during the 'terror' chaos.

While she was pulled form the river by the Port of London Authority alive, a spokesman confirmed her injuries were "serious".

London Mayor Sadiq Khan tonight said Londoners “will never be cowed by terrorism” following the attack.

Mr Khan said there would be additional police officers on the city streets to keep Londoners and visitors safe.

“We stand together in the face of those who seek to harm us and destroy our way of life,” he said.

“We always have, and we always will. Londoners will never be cowed by terrorism.”

Watching the incident unfold from the press gallery inside the Houses of Parliament, George Eaton the political editor of the New Statesman earlier told Sky News: "I saw a large crowd fleeing the attacker who appeared to be carrying a knife, fleeing him from close to the Tube station.

"He then entered the gates of Parliament and charged at officers. We now know that one of them was sadly stabbed. He was then very swiftly shot by armed police."

Daily Mail political editor Jason Groves witnessed the incident from his office window.

He said: "I heard a bang coming from Westminster Tube station, looked out the window, there's a commotion, armed cops were running, the crowd of people outside were running as if for their lives.

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"A guy comes through the vehicle entrance wielding something, towards a copper, the copper tumbles.

"The man's running towards Westminster Hall, and then you've got a plain clothes copper comes running out.

"Not from the gate, but from the inside, shoots him once from maybe 10 or 15 yards away with a handgun, and then gets closer to him and shoots him again from over him and he doesn't get up."

Eyewitnesses described how the car deliberately ploughed into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before ramming into the gate of Parliament.

There are reports dozens of people were struck by the car as it hurtled towards Parliament Square.

Three French students were confirmed as among those injured on Westminster Bridge.

Two were taken to hospital where their condition was described as "serious" while a third was treated at the scene.

(Image: PA) (Image: PA) (Image: REUTERS) (Image: AFP)

Student Fin Maguire, 20, was walking across Westminster bridge shortly after the car smashed into pedestrians.

He said: "Somebody ran up to me and said there has been a terrorist attack just as I was walking along.

"I didn't believe it and I carried on walking along and I saw bodies on the floor.

"I walked onto the bridge and there were three or four bodies I saw they were all badly injured.

"I saw people had been hit by a car. It was terrible.

(Image: FameFlynet)

(Image: AFP) (Image: REUTERS) (Image: REUTERS)

"I didn't see the incident but there were car parts on the floor. Bits of the bumper broken off. They were black.

"The people I saw were seriously injured.

"It was pretty quiet at the time. Before the authorities arrived it was very surreal. I don't think people comprehended what was happened.

"Slowly as the authorities arrived we were herded away.

"There was a man who worked at the souvenir shop in the south side told me he just missed somebody trying to run him over so it was as if someone had driven across the road and tried to hit people.

(Image: Twitter)

(Image: Sky News)

"I spoke to as many people as I could to understand what happened but I missed it and then I heard there had been gun fire across the bridge. I didn't hear it."

Prime Minister Theresa May was inside the Houses of Parliament as the incident unfolded.

Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen told Sky News of the moment she was whisked away by her security team.

He said: “We were just about to vote and I was behind the Prime Minister and the first time I realised something was happening was when her security detail came and spoke to the prime minister and she moved away very quickly.

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"They (security detail) were professional but it was obvious from their demeanour that this was not a drill and something serious had happened.

"I’ve never seen the prime minister moved away by the biggest plain-clothed police officer I've ever seen. He put his arm around her and took her very quickly away.

"She was taken to her care and automatic weapons produced by the security detail and she was moved away very quickly.”

The House of Commons was suspended and MPs ordered to stay in the chamber or in their offices.

An air ambulance has since been seen landing in Parliament Square.

An eyewitness in the Mirror's Parliamentary office said at least three shots were fired in New Palace Yard - just inside the security cordon of Parliament.

The whole estate was put on lockdown. A group of school children had come through security and were 10 feet away and were ushered into nearby Westminster Hall.

Our witness saw around 30 police officers in New Palace Yard in the moments after the incident, many armed with heavy duty guns.

Our witness saw two men being worked on by emergency teams, one who appeared to be a policeman and one in a grey suit.

(Image: Reuters)

Another witness said a man was being worked on by medical teams while police trained their guns towards his head.Government Jaguars were parked in the yard in the moments after the shooting.

Journalists have been banned from leaving their offices, which face onto the scene.

The Metropolitan Police said: "Police were called at approx 2:40pm to reports of an incident at Westminster Bridge.

"Being treated as a firearms incident - police on scene."