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UK police had confirmed that five people had now died as a result of Wednesday's attack and 40 people had been injured.

"We think we know who the attacker is," Acting Deputy Commissioner & national lead for Counter Terrorism Policing Mark Rowley said but stated that they were not willing to divulge the assailant's name at this time, though they did admit that "terrorism is our assumption."

Police had also named the officer who died as 48-year-old husband and father PC Keith Palmer, a 15-year veteran of the force.

"There were people across the bridge. There were some with minor injuries, some catastrophic. Some had injuries they could walk away from or who have life-changing injuries," Anderson said.

Mark Rowley, assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, said the police are "satisfied at this stage it looks like there was only one attacker."

London Ambulance Service said it has treated at least 10 patients on Westminster Bridge.

An eyewitness told Sky News he saw a body "face down" in the Thames. Witnesses said people either jumped or were knocked over the side of the bridge as the car mounted the pavement and struck a number of pedestrians.

A spokesman for the Port of London Authority, which looks after safety on the river, said a female member of the public had been recovered from the water near Westminster Bridge after she "fell" or "jumped" in.

"A female member of the public was recovered alive from the water, but with serious injuries. She has been brought ashore and is undergoing urgent medical treatment. The working assumption is that she fell or jumped from the bridge."

Shocking videos and photographs show people lying on the bridge, bleeding heavily, with members of the public rushing to their aid.

A witness described seeing a middle-aged man carrying a knife running towards the Palace of Westminster.

Driving a large SUV, the assailant slammed into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge near Parliament, killing two people and injuring dozens, before crashing into a fence.

After the crash, the driver left the vehicle and approached Parliament, where he stabbed an armed police officer to death and was fatally shot by the police.

It appeared to be the most serious such assault in London since the deadly subway bombings in 2005.

No group or individual had so far assumed responsibility for the incident.

The House of Commons session was suspended and members of parliament who were in the chamber were told to remain there.

UK Prime Minister Theresa May was rushed into a vehicle and spirited back to her office at 10 Downing Street.

She held a meeting of the government's emergency committee and issued a statement on Wednesday night from her official residence condemning "the sick and depraved terrorist attack on the streets of our Capital this afternoon."

May also said that "the full details of exactly what happened are still emerging," but she confirmed that the attack had been carried out by a lone male assailant.

US President Donald Trump offered his condolences to May over the deadly attack.

The president further pledged "the full cooperation and support" of the US government "in responding to the attack and bringing those responsible to justice," according to the White House.

The Westminster incident took place on the first anniversary of attacks in the Belgian capital Brussels that left over 30 people dead and more than 300 others injured.

Leader of the UK opposition Labor Party Jeremy Corbyn slammed the terror attack on Wednesday, promising the deepest possible inquiry into the incident.

Corbyn said everybody, including those inside the parliament and outside, must be kept safe. He added that the attack was a raid on normal and completely innocent people.

The London mayor had also commented the assault, saying Londoners won't be cowed by the terrorists. Sadiq Khan said the reason behind the attack was the terrorists' intolerance of London's democracy, civil liberties and human rights.

He urged all Londoners and possible visitors to the city not to be alarmed by the attack, noting that London will remain one of the safest cities in the world.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team