Woman killed as van crashes into group of people in central London
A 26-year-old driver has been arrested on suspicion of drug-driving following the fatal crash near Somerset House
A young woman has been killed after a van crashed into a group of people outside King’s College London just before midday.
One person is fighting for their life after being rushed to hospital and another suffered minor injuries, the Met Police said.
A 26-year-old driver has been arrested on suspicion of drug driving after the van crashed on the Strand in central London.
Police said the incident is not being treated as terror-related and that a crime scene remains in place while enquiries continue.
A witness told LBC News that “a few girls may have been hit”. “I’m waiting for my friends to come out, they sound pretty shaken but I don’t know what they saw,” they said.
King’s College London student Miles Damone said he saw a van “ram into a fence” and the side of a church.
“The van came from one of the side roads by the Indian embassy and then at this point - I didn't see how or when - it crashed into the people,” he told the BBC.
“I just saw it coming from there, made a sharp turn and just rammed into the fence. It rammed into the side of the church.”
King’s College London said it was aware of an incident on The Strand and was working with police to find out more information.
A Met Police spokesperson said: “Police are on scene and dealing with a collision close to The Strand, WC2.
“Officers were called at 11.41am on Tuesday, 18 March following a collision involving a van and pedestrians.
“Three pedestrians suffered injuries, with a woman in her twenties sadly pronounced dead at the scene.
“Two pedestrians have been taken to hospital, one has potentially life-threatening injuries, and the other has minor injuries.
“The driver of the van, a 26-year-old man was arrested at the scene on suspicion causing death by careless driving and driving with concentration of specified controlled drug above specified limit.”
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called today (Tuesday) at 11.39am to reports of an incident in The Strand, WC2.
“We sent resources to the scene including ambulance crews, advanced paramedics, an incident response officer, a clinical team manager and London's air ambulance.
“We treated four people at the scene. Sadly, despite our best efforts one person was pronounced dead. We took two other people to hospital and one was discharged at scene.”
Anyone with information has been urged to call police on 101 or post @MetCC ref CAD 2771/18MARCH.