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’.
Police called at 16:38 to a number of reports of shots fired on Oxford Street & underground at Oxford Circus tube station. Police have responded as if the incident is terrorist related. Armed and unarmed officers are on scene and dealing along with colleagues from BTP (sic).Met Police statement
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.)
"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.
Our response on Oxford Street has now been stood down.If you sought shelter in a building please now leave.We have not located any trace of suspects, evidence of shots fired or casualties.Met
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.
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.