London Mosque 'Attack': Three Injured After Car Ploughs Into Pedestrians

Detectives are investigating whether an incident in which a car hit pedestrians outside a mosque was an anti-Muslim attack.

Three people were struck by the vehicle outside the Al-Majlis Al-Hussaini Islamic centre in Cricklewood, north west London, as it sped away following a row, Scotland Yard said.

Two men in their 20s suffered minor injuries, and a man in his 50s is in hospital with a serious leg injury, police said.

The force said it is investigating reports the occupants of the car shouted “anti-Islamic taunts” after being asked to leave by security for drinking, using drugs and behaving anti-socially.

A statement from The Hussaini Organisation, which runs the centre, described the incident as a “suspected premeditated Islamophobic attack”.

“We are in deep shock at such an attack taking place on our community but remain proud to live in a diverse and tolerant society and as such we remain unintimidated,” the statement said.

Officers were called to Oxgate Lane, near Edgware Road, at around 12.35am on Wednesday.

Occupants of the car, inside a private car park at the Islamic centre, were told to leave by security at around 12.20am for anti-social behaviour, drinking and apparently using drugs, the force said.

The occupants, three men and a woman in their mid-20s, were then involved in a row with a group outside the centre where anti-Muslim language was apparently used.

Some of the crowd reportedly inflicted “minor damage” on the car before it made off at speed, hitting three people as it left, the force said.

The Islamic centre said the car was “hurtling down” the road and mounted the pavement before swerving into bystanders who were “indiscriminately mown down”.

Detectives are analysing CCTV in a bid to trace the driver and are “keeping an open mind as to the cause of the collision”, the Metropolitan Police said.