Two children have died and nine were injured, six of them critically, in a "ferocious" knife attack at a children's dance workshop.
Two adults are also in a critical condition after being stabbed as they tried to protect children at the Taylor Swift-themed event in Southport, Merseyside, police said.
A 17-year-old boy, from Banks in Lancashire, has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.
Police said the motivation for the attack was "unclear" but it was not being treated as terror-related.
#South #BBCNews
Two adults are also in a critical condition after being stabbed as they tried to protect children at the Taylor Swift-themed event in Southport, Merseyside, police said.
A 17-year-old boy, from Banks in Lancashire, has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.
Police said the motivation for the attack was "unclear" but it was not being treated as terror-related.
#South #BBCNews
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Here in the UK, two children have been killed in what police called a ferocious stabbing
00:06at a dance class in Southport in the North West of England. Nine more children have been
00:11injured, six are in a critical condition. Two adults were also being treated. Police
00:16responded to a major incident around lunchtime. Armed police have detained a 17-year-old male
00:22and have seized a knife. The force said there was no wider threat to the public and in the
00:27last hour we had this update from Merseyside police. A 17-year-old male from Banks in
00:33Lancashire who is originally from Cardiff has been arrested on suspicion of murder and
00:39attempted murder and is being taken to a police station where he will be interviewed by detectives.
00:47My officers were called to reports of a stabbing at 11.47 this morning and at address in Southport.
00:55When they arrived they were shocked to find that multiple people, many of whom were children,
01:00had been subjected to a ferocious attack and had suffered serious injuries. It is understood
01:07that the children were attending a Taylor Swift event at a dance school when the offender,
01:12armed with a knife, walked into the premises and started to attack inside the children.
01:19We believe that the adults who were injured were bravely trying to protect the children
01:24who were being attacked. As a mum and a nana, I can't begin to imagine the pain and suffering
01:32that the families of the victims are going through at this moment in time and I wish
01:37to send my heartfelt condolences to them.
01:41That statement from Merseyside police a short time ago. The Prime Minister has also been
01:45responding a little earlier.
01:49The events today are just truly awful and I know the whole country is deeply shocked
01:57at what they've seen and what they've heard and I know I speak for everybody in the whole
02:01country in saying our thoughts and condolences with the victims, their families, their friends
02:09and the wider community and it's almost impossible to imagine the grief that they're going through
02:16and the trauma that they're going through. I do want to thank the emergency services
02:20of Merseyside police who've had to respond to the most difficult of circumstances today.
02:28Plenty more detail on that shocking stabbing attack this lunchtime on the BBC News website.