At least eight people, some of them believed to be children, were injured in a knife attack in the northern English town of Southport on Monday, emergency services said, while police said they had arrested a man.
Shortly before noon (6 a.m. ET), police were called to a property in the coastal town, about 20 kilometers north of Liverpool, after being alerted to a possible stabbing, according to a statement from local Merseyside Police.
Armed officers “arrested a man and seized a knife,” she added.
No information has been provided about the attacker's possible motives.
The North West Ambulance Service said it responded to a “major incident” and had at this stage treated “eight patients with stab wounds” who were taken to several hospitals, including a children’s hospital.
Colin Barry, who runs a business on the street where the attack took place, told the PA news agency he witnessed a scene “worthy of a horror movie.”
“Mothers are coming in now and screaming,” he added. “This kind of thing is made in America, not in sunny Southport.”
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Home Secretary Yvette Cooper praised the “swift and courageous response” of police and emergency services to the “horrific incident”.
“Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of those affected,” a spokeswoman said in the House of Commons. Several local media outlets reported that three people were stabbed after a knife attack in the town of Southport, near Liverpool, in England.
