London, Nov 29 (PTI) The stabbing incident at London Bridge on Friday has been declared a terrorist incident as Scotland Yard confirmed that one male suspect wearing a hoax bomb vest had been shot dead at the scene.

Scotland Yard's Head of Counter Terrorism Policing, Assistant Commissioner Neil Basu, said in a statement at New Scotland Yard headquarters in London that a "number" of people had been injured.

"At approximately 2pm today, police were called to a stabbing at a premises near London Bridge. Emergency services attended including officers from the City of London Police and Metropolitan Police. A male suspect was shot by specialist armed officers from City of London police and I can confirm that this suspect died at the scene," Basu, Britain's senior-most counter-terrorism officer, told reporters.

“Due to reports that the suspect might have had an explosive device specialist officers attended the scene. However, I can confirm at this time we believe a device that was strapped to the body of the suspect is a hoax explosive device," he said.

The UK's counter-terror officials have taken over the investigation now that the incident has been declared as terror related.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)