UK Prime Minister May 'safe' after attack in parliament - spokesman

Injured people are assisted after an incident on Westminster Bridge in London, March 22, 2017. /REUTERS
Injured people are assisted after an incident on Westminster Bridge in London, March 22, 2017. /REUTERS

British Prime Minister Theresa May is safe after an assailant was shot outside parliament by armed police on Wednesday, a spokesman for her office said.

The spokesman declined to say where May was when the attack took place.

The assailant was shot by armed police, the leader of the House of Commons said on Wednesday after loud bangs were heard and a Reuters photographer saw at least a dozen injured people on a nearby bridge.

A parliamentary official earlier said two people had been shot outside parliament and the building was in lockdown. The House of Commons session was suspended and members of parliament who were in the chamber were told to remain there.

Police said they had been called to an incident at Westminster Bridge, officers were on the scene and it was being treated as a firearms incident.

A Reuters reporter inside the building said medical staff were treating two people inside the gates of the parliamentary estate.

Nearby Westminster underground train station was closed at the request of police.

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