hainault area of incident on the hainault area of north—east london. a man has been arrested in incident involving a sword. police were called shortly before seven o'clock this morning to reports of a vehicle being driven into a house in the thurlow gardens area of hainault. their applause at that time that people had been stabbed. —— there were reports. the suspect went on to attack other members of the public and two police officers. we don't have a confirmed number of people who have been injured but it does include at least two police officers. they are awaiting, the police say, an update on the condition of those who have been injured but a 36—year—old man was arrested at the scene and he is in custody. you can

see here this is the statement that the police actually released, giving us details of this incident in hainault which happened at around seven o'clock this morning. the home secretary james cleverly has posted, saying he is regularly being updated about the incident at hainault, he says my thoughts are with those affected and thank you to the emergency responders. you can see his post on x, he would urge people not to speculate on line all provide relevant information to the police because there will be a big police operation to give as much evidence about what has happened in hainault, which is what they home secretary james cleverly is asking people to do. if they have any informational footage, pass it on to the police because they will be trying to put

together a picture of exactly what happens, they said they were called at 7am but there will have been the build—up to that. my colleague courtney bembridge is monitoring the developments in the newsroom. for people just developments in the newsroom. for peoplejust shining on bbc news, update us on what we know about the serious incident in hainault. several people injured, it is not clear the extent of injuries at this stage but we know it has been declared a serious incident and that a 36—year—old man has been arrested at the scene. this all unfolded at around 7am with reports of a car hitting a home in that area near hainault in north—east london. then you can see these images verified in the last 15 minutes or so of the alleged attacker with a large knife, described by police as a sword. they said they have arrested the man at the scene and this is video from a

member of the public of the alleged attacker from this morning. member of the public of the alleged attackerfrom this morning. lots member of the public of the alleged attacker from this morning. lots of these visuals coming in and we have heard lots of updates from police about this incident. one thing i wanted to pick up on is they said they do not believe this was a terror —related incident, and for many watching these images, seeing somebody walk around is a residential part of london with a sword of outsides, they will question why it is not being considered terrorism so i wanted to go through the definition of the uk government users in terms of defining terrorism. it is a threat which must be for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause, that is the uk government definition of terrorism that they use or threat must be for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause, and in this instance police say they do not

believe this is a terror —related incident. that gives you an understanding of how they define terrorism, because looking up as images, a terrifying incident and we know police have released a statement saying how terrifying this would have been for local residents, the tube station is very, very busy on a very busy line in london, that line is about one hour away from where we are in central london and lots of commuters would have been preparing to come in around that time in the morning, getting up to rush hour in london. the latest update we have had from the deputy assistant commissioner says this must have been a terrifying incident for those concerned, i know the wider community will be feeling shocked and alarmed. people will want to know what is happening and provide more information as soon as we can, we do not believe there is any ongoing threat to the wider community, we are not looking for more suspects and this incident does

not appear to be terror —related. we know police were called shortly before 7am to reports of a car hitting a home in thurlow gardens in that area of north—east london, there were reports of people being stabbed, the number of which has not been confirmed, and police say they understand the suspect went on to attack other members of the public in two officers. the victim because my conditions are not yet known but the 36—year—old man, allegedly the man we can see in this video, was arrested at the scene and police believe he was acting alone. at this point we know there is a huge exclusion area, lots of police in that area, the tube station has been closed all morning while police try to clear the area and they had to work out whether there was an ongoing threat, they do believe there is no ongoing threat, but lots of police, emergency services, as

you mentioned earlier, firefighters, ambulance workers, that we can see the map of london and zooming into north—east london you can see hainault and just how many homes are in that area, it is a residential area with lots of housing estates so lots of people would have been in this area and we have started to see lots of videos circulating online taken by members of the public showing police outside their homes, one of those was the man they are armed with a sword, lots of videos and images coming in as people were trying to work out what was happening and we know lots of people had theirjourneys into work disrupted because of the train stopping but also in the middle of this there are several people who have been injured and it is not yet clear exactly how bad their injuries are and police have not yet confirmed the number of people who have been injured or their conditions at this stage, so we will await further details from the emergency services and ambulance workers who are also at that scene.

a 36—year—old man is in custody. we are yet to hear more information about the alleged attacker�*s movement this morning but we know it all happened at around 7am and there was a car that hit a home nearby, it is not clear what happened between that incident and the next part of the incident where we know several people were stabbed, including two police officers. that is what officers are trying to work out at the moment, they have advised people to stay away from the area if they can and not speculate too much, because that is always the danger in these instances where people are very quick on social media, obviously trying to work out what is going on, lots of speculation happening on social media and the local mp has urged people not to speculate, avoid the area and follow the advice of the authorities in that area to try to keep safe, but

police confirming this is not an ongoing threat, they have contained the incident, arrested a 36—year—old man at the scene and will be trying to piece together exactly what happens, hopefully we will soon get an update on the condition of some of those people who have been injured. of those people who have been in'ured. . ~' ,, of those people who have been in'ured. ., ~ i. ., ., , injured. thank you for the latest from the newsroom, _ injured. thank you for the latest from the newsroom, courtney. l injured. thank you for the latest from the newsroom, courtney. i injured. thank you for the latest - from the newsroom, courtney. i want to reiterate the statement from james cleverly, the home secretary, said he is being regularly updated about the incident at hainault station. he says, my thoughts are with those affected and thank you to the emergency responders. he said, i would urge people not to speculate or share footage online and provide relevant information to the police. there you can see that post on x from home secretary james cleverly. he mentioned the emergency responders, not only the police but london ambulance service and london

fire brigade also sent to the incident. london fire brigade saying there firefighters assisted london ambulance service colleagues at the incident in hainault, which is in the east of london. as you can see from this map, it is a built—up area with lots of housing in that area and this is where the incident happened. police say they were called at around 7am to the reports that there had been a stabbing, they say there was a sword and a man has been arrested, as you can see. this is the statement from the police without detail, saying at this time we understand the suspect went on to attack other members of the public and two police officers. this is footage that was on social media and when these incidents happen, lots of footage is posted on social media

but the team at bbc verify have verified this as being from hainault this morning. you can see that man with a large knife in his hand around the area of that housing. the incident in hainault this morning. we havejust had incident in hainault this morning. we have just had a statement from the mayor of london, sadiq khan, who said he was absolutely devastated by the attack in hainault and thanks to the emergency services for running towards danger. the mayor goes on to say, he remains in constant contact with the commissioner and batch, as we have been reporting, a man has been arrested on the area secured. the mayor reiterated what police said, they are not looking for anyone else in connection with this incident. sadiq khan goes on to say

that there will be additional reassurance patrols in the area, the statement says that police officers and emergency services showed the best of our city, running towards danger to protect others, and i thank them from the bottom of my heart. i would urge people not to speculate until the details of this incident are confirmed by police, and avoid posting footage on social media. he said if anyone has any information, they should contact the police, or indeed if they wanted to do it anonymously via crimestoppers, the mayor says there is no honour in staying silent. a statement from the london mayor sadiq khan saying he is absolutely devastated by this attack in hainault and flanking the emergency services for, as he said, running towards danger. this is more

footage we arejust running towards danger. this is more footage we are just getting that has been verified from the scene. obviously film from someone's house out of the window in the hainault area, where you can see those police cars and ambulance vehicles in the area of this incident that happened at around seven o'clock this morning. if you are just at around seven o'clock this morning. if you arejustjoining us on bbc news, let me recap with what we know. a man with a sword has been arrested following reports of stabbings and attacks in east london. police say that a number of people have been injured, including two police officers. police say they were called to reports of a vehicle being driven into a house in the hainault area of london, as you can see from this map it is a built—up area with lots of housing. the force said there were reports of people being stabbed during the incident in the thurlow gardens area, they say at that time the suspect is

understood to have gone on to attack other members of the public in two police officers. again, we do not yet have an update on the condition of those people injured, a 36—year—old man was arrested at the scene and is in custody. the footage you can see at the moment is footage that bbc verify have verified, you can see the alleged attacker with a large knife, the police describing it as a sword. importantly the met police say it is not looking at anyone else in connection with the incident and it is not believed to be terror —related. we are getting an update from the london ambulance service, they say they sent multiple resources to the scene and treated five people and took all five to hospital, so we now have a confirmed number from the london ambulance

service, they say five people were treated at the scene by themselves and also their emergency service partners. we have also heard that the london fire brigade were involved in this operation and they have taken all five people to hospital and their crews have left the scene. confirmation from the london ambulance service that five people were hurt in this incident and that all five were taken to hospital, but again we don't have an update on their condition. in the last few minutes the mayor of london, sadiq khan, issued a statement saying he was absolutely devastated, you can see this statement from sadiq khan where he said he remains in constant contact with the commissioner of the met police and a man has been arrested at the area secured. let me bring in

my colleague courtney bembridge in the newsroom, the mayor thanking the emergency services for, as he said, running towards danger?— running towards danger? that's ri . ht, running towards danger? that's riaht, i running towards danger? that's right. i think — running towards danger? that's right, | think it _ running towards danger? that's right, i think it is _ running towards danger? that's right, i think it is worth - right, i think it is worth reiterating his statements, i want to read some of that for you. he has said, i am absolutely devastated by the news from hainault this morning, i remain in constant contact with the commissioner, a man has been arrested at the area secured. police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident, there will be additional reassurance patrols in the area. the statement goes on to say that police officers and emergency services show the best of our city, running towards danger to protect others, and i thank them from the bottom of my heart. we know police have said two officers were injured in this incident, and we have now had confirmation from the london ambulance service that five people in total were seriously

injured in this incident and had been taken to hospital. sadik khan praising the response of the emergency services running towards a danger to protect others, and very quickly we know the police and ambulance services were at the scene at the ambulance services, saying they were called at 6:54am this morning to hainault underground station and they sent multiple resources to the scene, working together with the emergency services partners they treated five people and took all five to hospital. the crews have now left the scene. the latest update we have from police is the threat from this incident is over and there is no ongoing threat to members of the public, but they are being urged to avoid that area. they have arrested a 36—year—old man and they believe he was acting alone, and that his motive was not terror —related in this instance.

but for residents who woke up to science like those outside of their window, police filling what is normally a quiet residential area in north—east london, services, police cars and, of course, earlier that these pictures were taken, a man with a large sword seen walking. this video has now been verified. journalists with an bbc verify working to look at all of the footage coming in to the newsroom —— journalists within bbc verify. they are working tirelessly to try to verify videos like this one, this one of the alleged attacker has now been verified. this is the scene that many members of the public saw just before seven o'clock this morning i did the hours afterwards. the situation has been contained, five people have been taken to hospital, the extent of their injuries is not yet clear but police

have declared there a critical incident and they had surrounded the scene, there will be reassurance patrols, london mayor sadiq khan said police will be sure members of the public, patrol the area and obviously a very scary thing for residents to wake up to or open the front door to this morning.- front door to this morning. thank ou, front door to this morning. thank you. courtney- — front door to this morning. thank you. courtney- i— front door to this morning. thank you, courtney. iwanted - front door to this morning. thank you, courtney. i wanted to - front door to this morning. thank you, courtney. i wanted to bring| front door to this morning. thank i you, courtney. i wanted to bring you pictures from the bbc helicopter, this is the latest pictures from the area in hainault where this incident happened. in the last few minutes we have had it confirmed from the london ambulance service that five people were injured, they were treated at the scene and all five have been taken to hospital. we know from the met police that two police officers were in church, so by assumption that means there were three members of the public injured, we know five people have been

injured in this incident in hainault and all five have been taken to hospital. as i said, these are the latest pictures from the helicopter, there is a corton that it's obviously in place, police have put it in place around the area. —— there is a cordon. police saying they were first called at around seven o'clock this morning. witnesses have been talking, one witness said they heard shouting, be heard shrieking. i thought, who would be shrieking at this time in the morning? they said it sounded like the police, you know when they are ordering someone to stop or get to their knees or something, it was like, stop where you are, put that down, that kind of thing. one person said he looked out of the back window because the noises coming from there, they saw a bloke dressed

in yellowjumping over fences and that he went down an alley like he was going back onto the street again. the eyewitness says saw a policeman and a policewoman, what they described as normal corpus with they described as normal corpus with the short—sleeved shirts, who chased after him, they were shouting at him for him to put it down. the eyewitness talking about how the police went in and chased the man with the gun. the mayor of london, sadiq khan, praised the emergency services in his statement for what he said was running towards danger. another eyewitness talked about how there appeared to be a stand—off between police and the suspect in an alleyway, saying he heard the words "he's got a massive knife, he's got a massive sword," then he

disappeared down an alley and was out of sight. so this is the statement saying that he was absolutely devastated and he remains in contact with the met police commissioner. they key thing is a man has been arrested and the area has been secured. the police are saying in the statement it must have been a terrifying incident for all those concerned. you can see from the

helicopter how built—up the area of hainault is in london and we are hearing from those eyewitnesses that the suspect was running around that area, down an alleyway, they were saying. as you can imagine, the whole area has been cordoned off as the police continue their investigation into what happened in hainault this morning. we have had thoughts from the labour leads are also, sir keir starmer. he says his thoughts are with those injured in hainault this morning. he said it was awful news coming from hainault, posting on x he said our thoughts are with the victims, he said he is thankful for the first responders on the scene. a post from the labour leader sir keir starmer saying his thoughts are with the victims and he was thanking, as the mayor of

london, sadiq khan had, that he was thankfulfor london, sadiq khan had, that he was thankful for the london, sadiq khan had, that he was thankfulfor the first london, sadiq khan had, that he was thankful for the first responders on the scene. we have had confirmed by the scene. we have had confirmed by the london ambulance service that five people have been injured, they were taken to hospital after this sword attack in east london this morning. of course, as is always the case when these incidents happen, we have had a number of statements from different people. i mentioned the one from the mayor of london, the home secretary james cleverly also said he is being updated regularly on the incident and his thoughts are with those affected. here again as mayor of london and the labour leader, sir keir starmer, thank the emergency responders for their action at the scene. there you can see the post from sir keir starmer, responding to one from wes streeting who is one of the local mps who was

one of the first people to alert us to the fact that this was a critical incident in hainault this morning. as we look at the statement it is not just as we look at the statement it is notjust keir starmer and wes not just keir starmer and wes streeting, notjust keir starmer and wes streeting, we have had a statement from james cleverly, the home secretary. he urged people to provide any relevant information that they had to police and that was reiterated also in the mayor of london's statement. he said he wanted people not to speculate about the details on screen, you can see the details on screen, you can see the james cleverly poster urging people not to speculate. there is a lot of speculation in these times on social media and watch all of the officials, the home secretary, james cleverly, and also the mayor of london, toyota, urging people not to speculate about all the details of

this incident. of course, there is now a big police investigation under way. —— and also the mayor of london, sadiq khan. the mayor has urged people not to close footage on social media, they are asking anyone with footage to pass it on to the police as it may well be able to help with their investigation. you can see these pictures from the helicopter, there is still a big police presence at the hainault area of east london after the incident this morning. to reiterate if you are just this morning. to reiterate if you arejustjoining us, a man with a sword has been arrested following reports of stabbings and attacks in east london. we know from the london ambulance service that five people have been taken to hospital, we don't know what condition they are in. the metropolitan police say two of their officers were injured in this incident which all started at

around seven o'clock this morning. police were called for reports of a vehicle being driven into a house. the reports of stabbings at the thurlow gardens areas, the suspect has gone on to attack members of the public and we know that five people are in hospital. the 36 age man has been arrested at the scene and is in custody. they are not, the police say, looking for anyone else in connection with this incident. the deputy commissioner says it must have been a terrifying incident for all those concerns and they know the wider community will be feeling wider community will be feeling wider shock and alarm. they say they will provide more information and

the whole area has been cordoned off, hainault tube station because it happened near the. because it happened near seven, people will have been to the tube station. you will see from the underground line there are no trains running on that underground line at the moment and lots of the buses have been stopped and they are having to take different routes, as you can see there is an operation going on in there is an operation going on in the hainault area of london with lots of police activity. there is a cordon so they can try to pick up as much information on the crucial early stages of this investigation. the hainault station is on the central line into london, lots of people will use that to commute to get into the centre of london if they work their but as you can see from these helicopter pictures, the trains have been stopped, although one is being moved there at the

moment so maybe some are being allowed to move now. let me bring back my colleague courtney bembridge who is monitoring all the developments in the newsroom. we know five people are in hospital and the mayor of london praising the emergency services for, as he put it, running towards danger? yes. emergency services for, as he put it, running towards danger? yes, the ma or of it, running towards danger? yes, the mayor of london. _ it, running towards danger? yes, the mayor of london, sadiq _ it, running towards danger? yes, the mayor of london, sadiq khan, - it, running towards danger? yes, the mayor of london, sadiq khan, has i mayor of london, sadiq khan, has issued a lengthy statement praising the emergency services, the police and other ambulance workers, for running towards danger. but also urging people not to speculate or post on social media and are urging anyone with information to come forward. i want to run you through exactly what he said in his statement. he said, i remain in constant contact with the commissioner, if you have any information at all, please contact the police or anonymously on crimestoppers, he adds there is no

honour in staying silent. also urging people not to speculate until the details are confirmed by police and asking people to avoid posting on social media, but we have seen lots of videos of both this initial incident and the aftermath of this incident and the aftermath of this incident circulating online as people in the morning were trying to work out exactly what was happening, and we know the 36—year—old man believed to be responsible was arrested at the scene. police have not yet confirmed the details of any injuries, we know five people were taken to hospital by the london ambulance service but the extent of their injuries is not yet clear. as you can see in these helicopter pictures this was a busy residential part of london, it is about an hour away from central london on the tube. the tube station has been closed, a large area cult —— cordoned off as police look for evidence and seek to interview all

of the possible eyewitnesses. we have seen lots of videos people have taken outside their windows, waking up taken outside their windows, waking up to police filling their usually quiet residential streets, ambulance workers, lots of noise as reported by eyewitnesses and members of the public. they could hear the police activity, police responding to this emergency situation and they woke to the sounds of police yelling and trying to bring this incident under control. we know the incident has been brought in to control, it is believed this man they have arrested at the scene was acting alone and please do not believe it was a terror —related incident. he is now in custody and the five potential victims taken to hospital, we believe two of those people taken to hospital our police officers, that two police officers were hurt in this incident and as we heard earlierfrom sadiq khan, the mayor,

he praised