Ambulance crews have treated hundreds of people in the queue to see the Queen lying in state and surrounding areas. The London Ambulance Service (LAS) said it has treated more than 400 members of the public since Wednesday, when mourners were allowed to start waiting in line.
A total of 291 people along the route of the queue and nearby in London were given medical assistance on Wednesday. Of those, 17 needing hospital treatment, said the ambulance service.
Another 144 people were treated on Thursday, with 25 people being taken to hospital. The LAS said the majority of incidents attended were faints and collapses, resulting in head injuries.
Officials stopped people from joining the queue at around 11.35am today (Friday, September 16) as the wait to see the lying-in-state at Westminster Hall reached a minimum of 14 hours. Before noon, a sign was placed at the entrance to Southwark Park in south-east London - the site designated as the end of the queue - reading: “Entry to Her Majesty’s lying in state queue is temporarily paused.”
Downing Street told the PA news agency that the queue system was going to plan. A Number 10 spokeswoman directed questions to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, but it was “the case that what DCMS have done is they’ve temporarily paused the queue for at least six hours after it reached maximum capacity.
“That has always been part of our planning and that is to make sure as many people as possible in the queue can enter the Palace of Westminster.”
