“Altercation” Between 2 Men Causes Panic at Oxford St, Injures 16
A reporter who was inside the station, said ‘panic broke out after passengers were told to evacuate the station’.
advertisement
Unspecified Incident at London's Oxford Circus
The UK police say they are responding to reports of an “incident” at Oxford Circus subway station, one of London's busiest, “as if the incident is terrorist related”. An Independent reporter who was inside the station at the time said ‘panic broke out after passengers were told to evacuate the station’.
Meanwhile, videos shared widely on social media, shows people running away from the station.
The police has advised people in the vicinity to stay inside buildings.
(With inputs from Reuters.)
'No Trace of Suspects Yet'
Metropolitan Police said that they have not located a suspect, nor any evidence of shots fired. People have still been advised to vacate the area.
Britain's transport police said they had received a report of one woman suffering a minor injury and no other casualties.
Incident Stood Down, Say Police
The incident at London’s Oxford Street was stood down, say local police.
Oxford Circus Station Reopened
The two underground stations that were on lockdown were reopened.
"Oxford Circus and Bond Street stations now both reopened and all trains are stopping normally," the transport authority said on one of its official Twitter accounts.
"Stampede" and "Significant Panic"
The London Ambulance Service said the injuries were sustained as passengers fled from Oxford Circus Tube station, in what witnesses said was "a stampede".
Police said they received reports of shots being fired at a number of locations near Oxford Street, maintaining that there was "significant" panic.
But later they found no evidence of any suspects or any gunfire and informed the public that it was safe to return to the area.
Police Releases CCTV Image of Two Suspects
The incident at the busy Oxford Circus area on Friday that sparked a "mass evacuation" and left 16 people injured was caused by an "altercation" between two men, police said, ruling out a terror attack.
The Oxford Circus area, one of the busiest shopping zones in the heart of the city, was placed under temporary lockdown after police received reports of shots being fired.
"Officers believe an altercation erupted between two men on the platform. They would now like to speak to these two people in the CCTV images, who they believe may have information about the incident and the circumstances around the incident," a British Transport Police statement said.
"They would also like to speak to anyone who was at the station or in the area at the time and saw or heard anything that would have caused mass evacuation," it added.
Panic erupted among Christmas shopping crowds on London's Oxford Street on Friday evening, as armed officers raced to respond to reports of shots being fired in the area.
The British Transport Police released images of two men they suspect were behind the incident that left 16 people injured.
- An altercation between two men caused London’s Oxford Circus to be on lockdown
- Two underground stations on London’s Oxford Street reopen after an unspecified incident
- British Transport Police releases images of the two men suspected to have been involved in the incident
- Police earlier said they were responding to the incident as if was terror-related
- 16 people were injured but no fatalities reported