UF students safe after attack in London

UF students studying abroad in London are safe after an attack at the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday, university officials said.

The BBC reported an unnamed man injured 40 people and killed three when he drove a car into a crowd of pedestrians on the Westminster Bridge. Pedestrians included a group of French schoolchildren and English university students, according to eyewitness reports. He got out of the car and continued on foot when he crashed into railing outside of the Houses of Parliament.

Armed with a knife, the attacker ran toward a House of Parliament and fatally stabbed an unarmed Metropolitan Police officer outside the building before he was shot dead by multiple officers, according to the BBC. Although the identify of the attacker is unknown, British police told CNN they suspect he was a terrorist.

After the attack, UF sent an email to 27 students in the city, including 24 who were participating in UF’s study abroad program in London. UF spokesperson Janine Sikes confirmed the students were safe in an email.

“There is no indication of any ongoing danger in London after this attack, but we will continue to monitor,” Sikes said.

Emily Stolberg, a 21-year-old UF public relations junior, was in her apartment in London when she saw the news. Friends and family in the states texted Stolberg to make sure she was safe.

“It was pretty scary,” she said. “I didn’t know how big of a deal it was at first. It was more reassuring that I know no one I knew was hurt.”

Contact Meryl Kornfield at mkornfield@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @MerylKornfield

Emergency services staff provide medical attention to injured people on the south side of Westminster Bridge, close to the Houses of Parliament in London, Wednesday, March 22, 2017. London police say they are treating a gun and knife incident at Britain's Parliament "as a terrorist incident until we know otherwise." The Metropolitan Police says in a statement that the incident is ongoing. Officials say a man with a knife attacked a police officer at Parliament and was shot by officers. Nearby, witnesses say a vehicle struck several people on the Westminster Bridge.