Oxford Circus Tube station was evacuated on Friday evening amidst chaotic scenes after police were alerted to “a number of reports of shots fired”.
Met Police including armed officers responded “as if [it was] terrorist related” but have since said their response “has now been stood down”.
They added in a statement: “To date police have not located any trace of any suspects, evidence of shots fired or causalities.
“If you sought shelter in a building please now leave, and follow the direction of police officers on the ground if you need assistance.”
Oxford Circus and Bond Street stations now both reopened and all trains are stopping normally.
So far the only reports of injuries are that sustained by one woman as she was leaving Oxford Circus station.
Video posted to social media showed chaotic scenes particularly around the area of the Selfridges store.
Naomi Mdudu found herself locked in a Pret a Manger after she saw a “flood of people just running”.
She told HuffPost UK: “I was walking towards Oxford Street Station and Carnaby Street was just completely empty and everyone was hiding in the stores, no one knew what was going on.
“And then all of a sudden we just saw a flood of people just running. So I quickly just ran into the closest Pret and to begin with everyone was calm but we suddenly just saw more people running down from Carnaby Street.
“So they locked the doors and just told everyone to get down on the ground and keep away from the windows.”
Melina Michael-Ings, 40, who lives with her partner and two children in Brown Hart Gardens behind Bond Street, was walking to get a pint of milk at the tube station when she saw people running.
“I was just going to get a pint of milk. I saw people running. My first thought was ‘this is a bit extreme for Black Friday’. It was confusing and I continued into Bond Street [Tube station] when I suddenly realised it was deserted, there were chairs on the floor and it felt really eery and strange. Then suddenly a swarm of people came up the escalators. A swarm. It was horrifying. The screams - they were running for lives and it felt like they were running from something.
“I got caught up in the crowds and everyone was screaming and it like we were being chased but I don’t know that we were. I had to climb over the gates to get into my home because it was all blocked off. It felt like we were being chased. There’s still people screaming and running past my window and hiding in the back yard. There’s Japanese tourists hiding in my backyard. I live here, I have somewhere to hide, most people don’t.”
HuffPost reporter Owen Bennett, who is down at Bond St, said he saw heavy duty police cars driving down the road towards a cordon.
“After a few minutes where it seemed like nothing was happening there were screams and everyone started running and people then ran into buildings.”
He said people inside the shops are mostly looking on their phones to find out what has happened, but there are a lot of confused tourists.
Images are being shared on social media of Oxford Street being cordoned off during Friday evening rush hour and police on the scene.
Several people are reporting seeing people running into shops away from the underground station, with others reporting the area is on “lockdown”.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated. Check back for the fullest version. Follow HuffPost UK on Twitter here, and on Facebook here.
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.