Hundreds trapped on the London Eye for almost three hours after tourist attraction was placed on lockdown in Westminster attack
HUNDREDS of terrified tourists including over 50 children were trapped inside the London Eye for nearly three hours as Westminster was placed on lockdown following a terror attack.
The attraction had tweeted to say it was keeping visitors inside pods on the South Bank after a knifeman charged at officers outside Parliament and a 4x4 ploughed into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge.
The attack is being treated as a "terrorist incident" and police widened the cordon to include the London Eye.
Over 50 school children were among those trapped on board the tourist attraction for nearly three hours as carnage unfolded below.
Upon being released, the riders were taken into a makeshift questioning area where the details of every family and tourist party was taken down.
They were released within the hour.
The London Eye said at the time: "There is an ongoing incident on Westminster Bridge and in the vicinity of the Palace of Westminster.
";This is an ongoing incident and, as yet, we cannot provide any firm details as to what has transpired.
"At present we are holding all of our guests within our attractions as per tried and tested security procedures.
"The safety and security of our guests and staff will always be our number one priority.
"We will update as frequently as possible."
Two hours later, the attraction tweeted: "We can confirm that guests are now disembarking the London Eye.
"All guests have now disembarked the London Eye in cooperation with the Metropolitan Police Service...
"Who we have been working closely with all afternoon.
"We will always take every precaution to ensure the safety and security of our guests and staff."
MOST READ IN NEWS
Speaking to the , "terrified" Jack Hutchinson, 16, from Boston, US, said he saw three bodies lying on the ground, and five stretchers while stuck on the attraction.
He said: "At first I thought it was a bomb scare, I had no idea what was going on. There were police all over the place and ambulances.
“For the first few minutes I was concerned about my safety. But after a while I felt safe in the pod. We were up there for three hours.”
A schoolteacher chaperoning around 40 teenage schoolkids from Spain described the feeling of terror at being held mid-air for nearly three hours.
She said: "We could see something was happening on the bridge, but it wasn’t clear, and it was scary. And the longer we stayed up there the worse it became.”
Meanwhile, retired police sergeant Bill Croft, 71, said it was clear to riders something serious had happened when they witnessed around "20 police cars" driving through Westminster.
He said: "Everybody heard the sounds on the bridge. We didn’t see the incident but we saw the aftermath. It was clear something serious had happened.
“They told us there had been an incident on the ground but no other details. Eventually the news trickled through.”
It has since reopened and tourists were allowed to leave the pods.
Five people have died in the attack including a police officer and the suspect and 40 others are injured after a 4×4 mowed down a dozen people on Westminster Bridge before the knifeman stormed Parliament grounds and stabbed PC Keith Palmer.
Eyewitnesses told how one person was thrown over the edge of the bridge and others were left bleeding with horrific head wounds.
The whole area was on lockdown with police closing the following areas: Parliament Square; Whitehall; Westminster Bridge; Lambeth Bridge; Victoria Street up to the junction with Broadway and the Victoria Embankment up to Embankment tube.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368.