London. A 14-year-old boy was killed and four other people, including two police officers, were injured after a man attacked passers-by with a sword in east London, police said.
The 36-year-old attacker was arrested, police said, adding that the incident “does not appear to be linked to terrorism.”
The injured were taken to hospital, said a police official, Stuart Bell.
The two police officers had to undergo surgery for “considerable” injuries, he added, but their lives are not in danger, nor are those of two other victims.
The minor, however, succumbed to his injuries. “He was taken to hospital after being stabbed and unfortunately died shortly after,” Bell told reporters.
The police received a call “shortly before 07:00” to go near a metro station in the Hainault area where according to witnesses “several people had been stabbed.”
“A man was arrested with a sword,” the police said in a statement, adding that, according to witnesses, the suspect had attacked bystanders and two police officers.
Images posted on social media and picked up by British media showed a white man, wearing black pants and a yellow hooded sweatshirt, sword in hand, walking erratically in front of houses, while police cars surrounded the scene.
Witnesses reported hearing screams and screams.
“The attack does not appear to be linked to terrorism,” said Ade Adelekan, a police official cited in the statement.
Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak lashed out at an “appalling incident”.
“Such violence has no place on our streets,” he wrote on the social network X.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said he was “absolutely devastated” by the attack.
Knife and sword attacks are on the rise in the UK.
According to official figures, last year they increased by 7 percent, to almost 50,000, in England and Wales.
In London, they shot up 20 percent, with 14,577 attacks recorded, returning to their pre-coronavirus pandemic levels.
Last week, Sunak criticized the London mayor’s security policy, on the eve of the municipal elections scheduled for this Thursday.
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– 2024-05-05 17:27:01
