LONDON — At least eight people, some of them children, were injured in a stabbing attack in northwest England on Monday, emergency services said. Police said they detained a man and confiscated a knife.
One witness described seeing bloodied children running from a community center where a Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance event for children ages 6 to 11 was taking place. An announcement for the event promised “a morning of Taylor Swift-themed yoga, dancing, and bracelet-making.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer He called the attack “horrendous and deeply shocking.”
Merseyside Police said officers were called around midday to an address in Southport, a coastal town of about 100,000 people near Liverpool. He called it a “major incident” but said there was no major threat to the public. He asked people to avoid the area.
The North West Ambulance Service said medics treated eight people with stab wounds. The injured were taken to local hospitals, including a children’s hospital.
Bare Varathan, who owns a store down the street, said he saw seven to 10 bleeding children running from Hart Space, a community center that offers classes for pregnant women, babies and children.
“They had been stabbed here, here, here, everywhere,” he said, pointing to the neck, back and chest. “They were all about 10 years old. One of them was seriously injured.”
Ryan Carney, who lives with his mother on the street, said his mother saw emergency workers carrying children “covered in red, covered in blood. She said she could see the stab wounds in the children’s backs.”
“All this never really happens around here,” he said. “You hear about it, stabbings and things like that in major cities, in Manchester, in London. This is sunny Southport. That’s what people call it. The sun comes out. “It’s a lovely place to be.”
This story originally appeared on ABCNews.go.com read the full story
