A BBC screenshot shows the shooting incidents.

Five people died, including a police officer and the suspected attacker, and 40 others were injured near the British Parliament buildings on Wednesday afternoon, in what London police described as a "terrorist incident".

A man driving a sports utility vehicle was believed to have run over pedestrians on Westminster Bridge at around 2.40 pm local time. The driver then apparently crashed into railings, got out of the car and attacked a policeman with a knife near the Palace Yard entrance to the House of Commons, before being shot. The policeman later died, according to media reports.

Among the injured people was a Chinese tourist, Hua Chunying, spokeswoman of Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed at a news briefing on Thursday.

Hua also reiterated China’s opposition to terrorism, saying China is keeping a close eye on the incident.

British police have arrested seven people in the investigation into the attacker.

Colleen Anderson, a doctor from St Thomas' Hospital, where the victims were being treated, confirmed that a female pedestrian had died after falling under the wheels of a bus. She told reporters: "I confirmed one fatality. A woman. She was under the wheel of a bus. She died. I confirmed her death at the scene."

She added: "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. There were maybe a dozen people injured."

Officials also confirmed that a woman was rescued from the River Thames after she apparently jumped from Westminster Bridge to escape the assailants' car.

Theresa May, the British Prime Minister, was escorted from the House of Commons by armed police minutes after the incident. Police also shut the gates of nearby Buckingham Palace, where Queen Elizabeth was in residence.

As of press time, there was no report of Chinese nationals injured in the incident. The Chinese embassy in the United Kingdom issued an alert to Chinese nationals visiting or staying in the UK, calling for their raised vigilance and safety awareness, and urging them to avoid crowded areas.