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Police arrested eight people in overnight raids in Birmingham and London following the attack at Westminster, Britain's top anti-terrorism officer said.
Key points
- The death toll has been revised down from five to four
- Seven people are in a critical condition in hospital, while an Australian permanent resident was also injured
- Police believe the attacker acted alone and was "inspired by international terrorism"
"We have searched six addresses and made seven arrests. The inquiries in Birmingham and other parts of the country are continuing," Mark Rowley said outside London's police headquarters.
Police later revised that number to eight arrests.
Four people were killed and dozens more were injured in the the terrorist attack at Westminster Bridge and the Houses of Parliament.
Police had said late on Wednesday (local time) that the death toll was five, but that figure was revised down.
The four dead include the attacker, the policeman who was stabbed, and two members of the public, a woman in her mid-40s and a man in his mid-50s.
The woman has been identified as British national Aysha Frade, 43, whose mother is Spanish, Spain's Foreign Ministry said.
A spokesman said that Spanish consular officials have made contact with Ms Frade's relatives in Spain's north-western region of Galicia.
The regional Voz de Galicia newspaper said that Ms Frade had two daughters.
Spanish politicians have gathered on parliament's steps in Madrid for a minute's silence for the victims of the attack.
At the same hour, officials and residents of Betanzos, where Ms Frade's mother was born, stood in silence. Betanzos has declared three days of mourning for the victims.
Portuguese man Francisco Lopes, 26, was among the injured on Westminster Bridge when the attacker drove into pedestrians.
He told Portuguese channel TVI he heard shouts behind him as he walked across the bridge and when he turned around he was struck by the vehicle, which had mounted the footpath.
He said he lost consciousness and woke up wracked with pain. He sustained cuts on a knee and a hand but was released from Chelsea-Westminster hospital after treatment.
Mr Rowley said 29 people were being treated in hospital, with seven of them in a critical condition.
German woman Trish Neis-Beer, who lives in South Australia's Adelaide Hills and is a permanent resident of Australia, was among those hospitalised, Ms Neis-Beer's mother has confirmed to the ABC.
Attacker known to police from historic investigation
Police believe they know the identity of the attacker, but they have asked the media not to name him.
Prime Minister Theresa May told the House of Commons on Thursday that the attacker was British-born and had been investigated five years ago in relation to extremist terrorism, but had been a "peripheral figure".
Mr Rowley said he believed the man acted alone and was "inspired by international terrorism".
The Islamic State group has claimed credit for the attack in a statement issued by its Amaq news agency, saying the attacker "carried out the operation in response to calls for targeting citizens of the coalition".
However the group, which has claimed other attacks in a show of opportunism, did not name the attacker or give any other details and it is not clear whether the attacker was directly connected to the group.
The day after the attack, flags in London are flying at half mast and large parts of the city centre are still under tight police control, although cordons are being lifted from some areas.
Vehicles have been towed away from Westminster Bridge, which is still cordoned off, while the nearby Westminster underground train station is not accessible from street level.
The attack began when a speeding car ran down pedestrians on Westminster Bridge before crashing into the railings surrounding Parliament.
The driver then entered parliament grounds and fatally stabbed a 48-year-old police officer before being shot dead himself.
Britons have been shocked by the fact that the attacker was able to cause such mayhem in the heart of the capital with nothing more sophisticated than a hired car and a knife.
"The police and agencies that we rely on for our security have forestalled a large number of these attacks in recent years, over a dozen last year," Defence Minister Michael Fallon told the BBC.
"This kind of attack, this lone-wolf attack, using things from daily life, a vehicle, a knife, are much more difficult to forestall."
Travellers from around the world among those injured
Three French high-school students aged 15 or 16, who were on a school trip to London, were injured in the attack.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault has visited the victims in hospital in London and said they are not in a life-threatening condition.
He said democratic nations should not be cowed by this kind of attack.
"We must say no to those who want to kill our democracy," he told reporters. "We will not put up walls."
The Paris prosecutor's office says its anti-terrorism section has opened an investigation into attempted murder in relation with a terrorist enterprise — meaning that French police will likely travel to London to pursue their investigation.
Two Romanian tourists, four South Korean visitors, one German, one Pole, one Chinese, one American and two Greeks were also among the injured.
One of the Romanians was the woman knocked into the Thames. A diplomat said she has successfully undergone surgery to remove a blood clot from her brain but remains in a critical state.
Ambassador to Britain Dan Mihalache told national news agency Agerpres that the woman, who has not been named, had major problems with her lungs.
She had been in London with her boyfriend, who suffered a foot fracture, to celebrate his birthday this week.
Recent UK terror attacks:
Prime Minister Theresa May said the attack would not disrupt British democracy or normal life in the capital.
In a statement to Parliament at 10:30am local time (9.30pm AEDT) she said the attack was an attempt to silence democracy, but "we are not afraid, our resolve will never waver in the face of terrorism".
"As I speak millions will be boarding trains and airplanes to travel to London, and to see for themselves the greatest city on Earth," she told the House.
"It is in these actions — millions of acts of normality — that we find the best response to terrorism. A response that denies our enemies their victory, that refuses to let them win, that shows we will never give in."
Earlier, she condemned the rampage as a "sick and depraved terrorist attack".
ABC/wires
Topics: world-politics, unrest-conflict-and-war, united-kingdom, england
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