Several pedestrians injured after car collides near London's Natural History Museum; police detain suspect

London, United Kingdom: Police arrested a man near London’s Natural History Museum on Saturday after a vehicle apparently drove into pedestrians, injuring a number of people.

Crowds in the busy tourist spot in South Kensington, which is also home to the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Science Museum, fled screaming in panic, an AFP reporter said. Armed police were at the scene, and a video posted on Twitter showed a man being held down on the road next to a black car that appeared to have crashed. Security is high in Britain after five terror attacks in six months — four of them in London and one in Manchester — with the bloodshed claiming 35 lives. London’s Metropolitan Police said they were called to the scene at 2.21 pm (1321 GMT) after reports of a collision.

“It is believed that a number of pedestrians have been injured. A man (no further details) has been arrested at the scene,” the police said in a statement. “Enquiries to establish the circumstances and motive are under way.” A spokesman for the museum told AFP: “I can confirm that there has been a vehicle collision with pedestrians on our Exhibition Road entrance.” One witness, who gave his name only as Leonard, told AFP: “I was near South Ken station and there were many police. “Suddenly a police woman officer shouted at the crowd to run, and everybody flew in panic, many people screaming.”