Finsbury Park attack as it happened: Theresa May booed as she leaves mosque after paying respects to victims
Police: 'London is a city of many faiths and many nationalities. An attack on one community is an attack on all of us'
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One person has died and eight people have been taken to hospital after being hit by a van in a "potential terror attack" near a north London mosque.
The van driver, described by eyewitnesses as a large white man, was detained by members of the public after the attack in Seven Sisters Road at 12.20am on Monday.
One witness described being surrounded by bodies in the wake of the attack outside the Muslim Welfare House, close to Finsbury Park mosque.
Eyewitnesses said the attacker shouted about killing Muslims as he was held by local people.
Finsbury Park attack
Show all 14Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, said it was an attack on common values.
"Like the terrible attacks in Manchester, Westminster and London Bridge it is also an assault on all our shared values of tolerance, freedom and respect," he said in a statement.
Prime Minister Theresa May said: "Police have confirmed this is being treated as a potential terrorist attack.
"I will chair an emergency meeting later this morning.
"All my thoughts are with the victims, their families and the emergency services on the scene."
The Metropolitan Police said in a statement: "One man was pronounced dead at the scene.
"Officers are in the process of informing next of kin. A post mortem examination will be scheduled due course.
"Eight people injured were taken to three separate hospitals; two people were treated at the scene for minor injuries."
Commenting on reports that the van driver also produced a knife, the statement went on: "At this stage there are no reports of any persons having suffered any knife injuries.
"The driver of the van - a man aged 48 - was found detained by members of public at the scene and then arrested by police in connection with the incident.
"He has been taken to hospital as a precaution and will be taken into custody once discharged.
"He will also be subject of a mental health assessment in due course."
The force said the investigation of the incident is being carried out by the Counter Terrorism Command.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has said: "This is a truly horrific terrorist attack on our city, where innocent bystanders were deliberately targeted after returning from the Taraweeh Ramadan prayers.
"My thoughts and prayers, as I'm sure the thoughts and prayers of all of London and the country, are with all those affected by the attack last night, particularly the man who tragically died last night at the scene."
He paid tribute to the "fantastic response" from the emergency services as well as the local community and worshippers who detained the driver until police arrived, and the imam who stopped local residents from taking their anger out on the attacker.
"This attack behind me in Seven Sisters, the attack in Manchester, the attack on London Bridge, the attack on Westminster Bridge are all an attack on our shared values, our shared values of tolerance and freedom and respect," he said.
"And we will not allow these terrorists to succeed."
Mr Khan added: "These have been a terrible few weeks for London, unprecedented in recent times.
"We have seen the horror of the fire at Grenfell Tower, we have seen the attack on London Bridge and before that on Westminster Bridge and we saw last night the terrorist attack here in Seven Sisters.
"We will stay a strong city, we will ensure we are not cowed by terrorism, and we will not be defeated.
"We are united today and we are going to carry on being a united city."
Asked if Islamophobic terrorism has been underestimated, he added: "Terrorism is terrorism.
"It doesn't matter whether you are inspired by a perverse version of Islam or whether you are inspired by other motives to terrorise others.
"The intention is the same, to divide communities, to make us stop leading the lives that we do."
He said there has been a "spike in hate crime", in particular Islamophobic hate crime, after the London Bridge attack.
Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump's daughter, has tweeted about the Finsbury Park attack.
An imam prevented a mob attack on the suspected terrorist van driver who just minutes earlier had mowed down Muslim worshippers at a mosque.
He said, as some locals treated the injured, others tried to punch and kick the attacker.
Mohammed Mahmoud said: "We arrived at the incident within minutes. We found the assailant on the floor.
"He had been restrained by about three people. The injured and the deceased's brother were being tended to.
"We found a group of people quickly started to collect around the assailant.
"Some tried to hit and punch and kick him.
"By God's grace we managed to surround him and protect him from any harm."
The imam said two men, who he described as brothers, helped prevent a vigilante attack as passions ran high and said they "extinguished any flames of mob rule".
He said a passing police van was the first on the scene.
Mr Mahmoud said: "There was a mob attempt to hurt him, so we pushed pushed people away from him until he was safely taken by police."
Witness Hussain Ali added the suspect was smiling and waving as he brought carnage to Seven Sisters Road in Finsbury Park, north London.
The imam was hailed as the "hero of the day" by Toufik Kacimi, chief executive of the Muslim Welfare House, outside which the attack took place.
East London Mosque has been evacuated after it received a telephone threat.
The mosque said it understood it to be a hoax, but urged vigilance in the Muslim community.
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