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UK police rule out terrorism in Manchester truck attack

Police appeal for information after man struck by truck in city center during 'targeted' attack

24.07.2017 - Update : 24.07.2017
UK police rule out terrorism in Manchester truck attack file photo

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON

British police are appealing for information after a truck drove at a group of pedestrians in Manchester city center Sunday night.

The authorities are not treating the incident as terror-related.

Police were called shortly after 11.20 p.m. after a “red truck was seen deliberately driving into pedestrians on Well Street in the city center,” according to Greater Manchester Police.

Police believed it was “a targeted attack” but have ruled out terrorism.

A man who was hit by the truck left the scene but was later found without any serious injuries.

“When this call first came in we were obviously concerned but we quickly established that this was not terror related,” Chief Inspector Gareth Parkin said. "Thankfully there were no serious injuries, we could have been dealing with a much more serious situation.”

The U.K. has been on high alert since a number of recent terrorist attacks involving the use of vehicles as weapons against pedestrians.

On June 19, a van drove into Muslim worshippers outside an Islamic center in Finsbury Park, north London. Makram Ali, 51, died in the incident; a post-mortem suggested the cause of death was multiple injuries.

Darren Osborne, 47, is alleged to have driven the van into the crowd and has since charged with terrorism-related murder and attempted murder, according to the U.K.’s Crown Prosecution Service.

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