Arab News columnists Chris Doyle and Muddassar Ahmed were among hundreds trapped inside the Parliament building in London during the suspected terror attack.
Doyle, director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU), was inside the building鈥檚 central lobby Wednesday afternoon when the attack took place. He said the building was on lockdown and there were 鈥渟everal hundred鈥� people inside.
Officials annou-nced that there was a suspect vehicle outside Parliament that was being dealt with by bomb-squad units, Doyle said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 calm now but there was panic earlier,鈥� he told Arab News at 4 p.m. local time, adding that a mass of people were trapped inside the building. 鈥淎rmed police are everywhere milling among politicians, the public and schoolchildren.鈥�
He tweeted from his handle @Doylech: 鈥淏ottles of water passed around by Parliamentary staff. People seated on the floor. Indescribable feeling of shock. People still scared. But seems police in control.鈥�
In other tweets, he wrote: 鈥淭hose in the dining room in Commons with us hid under tables. Terrified people as police were shouting to get out and go to Central Lobby. Coincidental or deliberate but the attack took place at around time of Division in Parliament. First vote of the week.鈥�
Ahmed, managing partner at Unitas Communications Ltd., said he too was on lockdown inside the Parliament building on Wednesday afternoon.
He was visiting an MP鈥檚 office in the building. After the alert was raised they were asked to evacuate the office, but then told to return. Police were carrying out 鈥渁 door-to-door search鈥� of the building, Ahmed told Arab News.
He said he was feeling 鈥渟haken鈥� after about an hour on lockdown, with armed police still moving through the building. 鈥淢issed the Westminster attack by minutes,鈥� he wrote on his Twitter handle @unitascomms.