Matt Haikin, 44. Westminster attack eyewitness Photograph: Rob Booth
Matt Haikin, 44, from London who works in international development was on the scene immediately after one person was hit by a car and as shots were fired inside the parliament grounds. He told the Guardian he feared another Paris attack was under way.
“I was cycling from the West End up the Embankment and saw a black car on the pavement right next to Big Ben with the front all smashed in with a body next to it. I thought it was just an accident and carried on cycling past and noticed people running around and I thought ‘what is going on’. A few seconds later I heard shots coming from inside the parliament grounds. I then realised this was not just another accident.”
He said the body next to the car “wasn’t moving and there was a lot of blood”.
“There were students shouting because there was a lot of blood. It felt like about 10 seconds after [that I heard the shots] but it could have been a bit longer because by that point I was starting to get a bit scared. I think there were three or four shots but I couldn’t swear to that.”
He said the shots came from the yard in front of the Palace of Westminster.
“As I looked [through the railings] there were people milling around and I think a couple of bodies on the floor. I couldn’t tell if they were injured or had just been asked to lay down. The police at that point started to appear and were moving everybody back.
“I felt shock. At the point that I thought maybe this was a bigger thing I started to get scared, but it calmed down pretty quickly and then it was just, shit, what is going on.”
The hospital said “staff and visitors at St Thomas’ and Evelina London hospitals are being advised to remain on site during the current security incident.”
Staff and visitors at St Thomas' and Evelina London Hospitals are being advised to remain on site during the current security incident.
After giving urgent medical attention to two injured people in Old Palace Yard - including CPR - medics have taken away one person in an ambulance. Another person remains prone on the cobbles, covered completely in a blanket. It seems certain they are dead. It is not known who the two people are, police, a potential attacker or attackers, or others.
Emergency services at the scene outside the Palace of Westminster. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA
UPDATE:
This is speculation, but fact no police are standing near the body outside parliament indicates to me it's not likely to be fellow officer.
