Witnesses said a crowd of worshippers had gathered to help an elderly man who collapsed on the ground at a nearby bus stop when the vehicle suddenly appeared. The man died but it was not clear if his death was due to the van attack.
"This is being treated as a terrorist attack and the counter-terrorism command is investigating". Many police cars and ambulances were responding.
He said the driver had run out of the van but a group of people caught him and held him until police arrived.
Supposedly, the man asked for the group to "kill" him and even goaded witnesses as he was being arrested by the police.
A 48-year-old man has been arrested and will undergo a mental health assessment. He complained that the "mainstream media" was unwilling to call the attack a terrorist incident for many hours.
Witnesses said they heard "screaming and shouting" and saw a crowd of people being "flattened" by the van.
An imam guarded the van driver who mowed down Muslim worshippers until the police arrived, telling a crowd: "Do not touch him".
Police said a suspect was quickly and calmly turned over to the police, and that no one else was found in the van.
- Mohammed Kozbar, trustee and mosque general secretary, said that the attack was aimed at "killing Muslims returning home after Ramadan prayers".
The incident was being treated as a potential terrorist attack said Prime Minister Theresa May, which if confirmed would make it the fourth since March in Britain and the third to involve a vehicle deliberately driven at pedestrians.
Orioles (31-27) at Yankees (34-23)
He also ended the day leading the American League with a.344 average, 47 RBIs, a.450 on-base percentage and an 1.168 OPS. Calhoun slapped a solo homer to get the scoring going in the first on Monday, while Simmons put up one hit.
"All my thoughts are with the victims, their families and the emergency services on the scene", May said, adding that she would chair an emergency response meeting later on Monday.
The British Council of Muslims called for extra security around mosques, saying the late night attack was a violent manifestation of Islamophobia. The attacker was motivated by Islamist extremism, police said.
"This was an attack on London and all Londoners and we should all stand together against extremists no matter what their cause", said London deputy police commissioner Neil Basu.
Finsbury Park is in north London, just over five miles from Westminster Bridge and London Bridge, where two previous terror attacks have rocked the capital in recent months.
He also urged Londoners to stay "calm and vigilant" as police carried out investigations.
According to the Council in a follow-up tweet, the van struck the victims closer to the Muslim Welfare House.
British security officials, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with official policy, said hate crimes directed at Muslims have increased almost five-fold in the wake of several attacks in Britain.
"What we have seen throughout - whether in the heroism of the ordinary citizens who fought off the attackers at London Bridge; the unbreakable resolve of the residents in Kensington; or this morning the spirit of the community that apprehended this attacker - is that this is an extraordinary city of extraordinary people", she said.
"From the window, I started hearing a lot of yelling and screeching, a lot of chaos outside ..."
It's been reported that the Finsbury Park Mosque attack occurred a little after midnight just as the congregation finished Ramadan evening prayers.
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