London Westminster attack: "He jumped on the policeman and stabbed him"

Three people have died and forty have been injured in an attack in central London Wednesday, in what police are treating as a "terrorist incident".

A car ran over pedestrians on Westminster Bridge, before crashing in front of the gates that surround the Parliament compound, on Bridge Street. The FRANCE 24 Observers team spoke to an eyewitness who was in Portcullis House, opposite the Houses of Parliament. He took a photo of the scene out of the window and he watched the attacker attempt to enter Parliament. He told us exactly what he saw unfold.

James West works for the NGO Compassion in World Farming. He was at an MP drop-in event about slaughterhouse TV, in a room that overlooked the road. He saw the attacker stab a policeman.

A woman who was in a bus close to Parliament wrote about what she saw on Twitter. She published a video in which the gunshots can be heard, and then described the scene in a series of tweets.

People mown down on Westminster Bridge

Before crashing into the railings outside Parliament, the car reportedly "mowed down" several people on Westminster Bridge.

"A man got out of the car with a big knife"

I saw a car on the pavement and initially thought it was a road traffic accident – I didn't see the impact with pedestrians. A man got out of the car with a big knife and ran towards Parliament. He got through the gates.

A policeman stumbled and then the attacker jumped on him whilst he was on the ground and stabbed him multiple times. It's cobbled in there so I think the security/police person lost balance and the attacker took advantage when they were on the floor. Then the policeman managed to get up and run towards Westminster Hall.

The attacker then ran to the entrance of Westminster Hall and was shot. There seemed to be a lot of police, but none of them seemed to be armed – it took a long time for armed police to take the attacker out.

I didn't hear anything because of the thick glass in the windows. I’d moved away from the window in case there was an IED in the car.

Watching this, I was just in shock really I think. It was like watching a film. Although the attacker ran slowly it went by quite fast. It was only after that that the realisation kicked in. I think adrenaline took hold while it was happening.

West and his colleagues were later moved out of the room by police to another room without a view on to a road.

The policeman later died from his injuries.