美国国家公共电台 NPR British Police Say 7 People Killed In London Bridge Terrorist Attacks

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We're going to start the program in London where there are reports that a van reportedly drove into pedestrians 1 on London Bridge. Police also say they are responding to incidents at two other locations nearby. NPR's Frank Langfitt is on the line with us to tell us what he knows so far. Frank, thanks so much for speaking with us.

FRANK LANGFITT, BYLINE 2: Hi, Michel.

MARTIN: So what do we know right now? What are authorities telling us?

LANGFITT: Well, it's an extraordinary night here in London. Earlier in the evening, we understand, as you were just mentioning to listeners, that a van jumped the curb 3. There was a BBC reporter who just happened to be on the bridge this evening, and what she said - her name is Holly 4 Jones. She said - this is her description - he swerved 5 right around me and then hit about five or six people.

We understand from Holly Jones that four pedestrians appear to be severely 6 injured on London Bridge and that the van was going about 50 miles an hour, which is very strange. We're talking about central London. It's very congested. People don't drive that fast down there. Jones said that police had taken a man into custody 7 who happened not to be wearing a shirt. And that's what we know so far from London Bridge.

MARTIN: In a minute, I'm going to ask you to tell us about the area, about central London, for people who aren't familiar with it. But before you do that, can you tell us what you're hearing about Borough 8 Market?

LANGFITT: Yeah. So Borough Market is not far from London Bridge. I've spent a lot of time there. It's a wonderful area to go for food and for drinks. And police say that there have been stabbing incidents there and that they've sent in armed officers to address that. There is video up on Twitter of police going into a restaurant and yelling at people to stay on the ground. The people are cowering 9 underneath 10 tables. It's a very - it's a terrifying scene. And that's what we have at Borough Market.

Now, there was a third incident. The police - the London Metropolitan 11 Police - they're the most authoritative 12 source for following these sorts of events in the city. They say there's a third incident up at Vauxhall. Now, Vauxhall is also on the south bank of the Thames, about four kilometers away. And it's also the home of a subway, a tube station.

MARTIN: Now, for people who aren't familiar with the area, can you just describe where all of these incidents occurred? What would you like there now on a Saturday evening?

LANGFITT: You know, on a Saturday night, it's a beautiful evening. I actually was riding my bike along the Thames today upstream. But it was a beautiful sunny day, and so people would have been out all over town. You know, London, as you know, a vibrant 13 city, especially on a Saturday night. There would have been a lot of people on London Bridge. Just to situate our listeners, London Bridge would be upstream from the famous Tower Bridge, downstream from St. Paul's Cathedral.

And then if you go just a little bit south, you would get to Borough Market, which is right by The Shard 14, a great - the great skyscraper 15 of the city. And Borough Market attracts tons of people who come there for lots of food and drink - a very popular place on weekends, especially on a Saturday night. Vauxhall is actually further upstream, and Vauxhall would be not too far from Big Ben. And also for anybody who was a fan of the James Bond movies - there's no indication this has anything to do with it - but it is the home of British intelligence MI6.

MARTIN: And, Frank, we only have a little bit less than a minute left, but this is all coming just a month after three people were killed near Parliament there in London when a car ran over victims. An attacker stabbed a police officer, of course, in Manchester. Two weeks ago, there was this bomb attack at the Ariana Grande concert. There has - that has to be on people's minds there.

LANGFITT: Absolutely, and I think that coming - three incidents like this, you know, there was a long stretch where London did not face big sort of terrorist attacks. The biggest one, actually, was going back more than 10 years ago - London tube bombing. But these last two to three months, we had two confirmed terrorist attacks, 22 people dying up in Manchester at the concert. And now tonight, police are not calling this a terrorist attack, but it's an extraordinary evening. I've certainly never seen anything like it in my time here so far. And police are digging in, trying to find out what's happened, try to find the perpetrators and of course tend to the victims.

MARTIN: Frank, thanks so much. That's NPR's Frank Langfitt reporting from London. Frank, thanks so much for speaking with us.

LANGFITT: You're very welcome, Michel.