Woman killed after van hits three pedestrians in Strand in central London, as man arrested for drug driving
18 March 2025, 12:37 | Updated: 18 March 2025, 14:30
A woman has been killed after a van hit three pedestrians on the Strand, with a man arrested at the scene on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs.
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The woman who died was in her twenties. She was pronounced dead at the scene, which is a pedestrianised area near King's College London.
Police said two others were injured. One of the two survivors had life-threatening injuries, with the other suffering minor injuries.
The driver, a man aged 26, was arrested for causing death by careless driving and for driving with drugs above the specified limit.
Police also said the incident was not terror-related.
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The Met said in a statement: "Police are on scene and dealing with a collision close to The Strand, WC2.
"Officers were called at 11:41hrs on Tuesday, 18 March following a collision involving a van and pedestrians.
"Three pedestrians suffered injuries, with a woman in her twenties sadly pronounced dead at the scene. Two pedestrians have been taken to hospital, one has potentially life-threatening injuries, and the other has minor injuries.
"The driver of the van, a 26-year-old man was arrested at the scene on suspicion causing death by careless driving and driving with concentration of specified controlled drug above specified limit.
"He remains in custody. Enquiries are ongoing and a crime scene is in place.
"This collision is not being treated as terrorism-related."
Two fire engines and three ambulances were also present on the scene.
A large part of the area was cordoned off as emergency services dealt with the incident.
Traffic restrictions were also in place in the wider area.
A student at nearby King's College London said: "No one knew what was going on. Lots of police tape, shouting and everyone sort of just stood there."
Incident occurs on The Strand in London
They added: "We saw people lying down with people with ambulances around them... Everyone's kind of shocked, I guess".
A PhD student said he was shocked by what had happened.
"I was just walking out of class... at first I was disoriented, I thought it was a protest because it usually happens, but it's something else entirely," Ali said.
"(Now knowing a woman has died) is so sad and hard to process - my thoughts go out to her family and friends.
"We walk by that crossing all the time and it's pedestrianised, barely any vehicles pass."
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: “We were called today (Tuesday) at 11.39am to reports of an incident in The Strand, WC2.
“We sent resources to the scene including ambulance crews, advanced paramedics, an incident response officer, a clinical team manager and London’s air ambulance.
“We treated four people at the scene. Sadly, despite our best efforts one person was pronounced dead. We took two other people to hospital and one was discharged at scene.”
