A man has been arrested after an 11-year-old girl and 34-year-old woman were stabbed in London’s Leicester Square in front of shocked tourists.
The Metropolitan police said the two victims had been taken to hospital. The man is in custody and he is thought to be the only suspect.
The 11-year-old is said to require hospital treatment but the injuries are not believed life-threatening, while the woman is understood to have suffered less severe injuries.
At this early stage, the incident is not believed to be terrorism related, the force said.
A security guard described how he “jumped on” and took a knife from a man who he said stabbed the child. He said his colleagues had administered first aid.
The guard, who gave his name as Abdullah, 29, told the PA news agency: “I heard a scream. At that moment I saw there was one person, roughly [in their] mid-30s or early 30s, and he was like stabbing a kid – I jumped on him, held the hand in which he was [carrying] a knife, and just put him down on the floor and just held him and took the knife away from him.
“Then a couple of more people joined as well, and we just held him until the police came, it took maybe three to four minutes for the police to arrive and then they just took him into custody.”
A police cordon has been put in place surrounding the double doors of the TWG Tea shop on Leicester Square. The cordon is beside the Lego store and in front of the M&M store, and families and tourists are still standing in queues for each. At least six police officers are at the scene.
Abdullah, who said he had worked in security at the TWG Tea shop for the past “seven to eight months” said his colleagues gave first aid to the child before the police joined in.
“I just saw a kid getting stabbed and I just tried to save her. It’s my duty to just save them,” he added.
Ezat Katerzis, a manger with tour bus company Toot buses, said the attacker appeared to be “mentally disturbed”.
Speaking to the Guardian he said: “It looked like he had something missing. He just stabbed the girl out of the blue. She was with her family.”
He said the girl appeared to have been stabbed near her right eye. “The blood was pouring out of her face,” he said. “She was European looking, but I couldn’t really tell because there was blood all over her face. They looked like tourists. She will survive. They picked her up and she stood [on her] feet. They took her inside the shop [TWG Tea]. And the paramedic came.”
He added: “The knife was on the floor. It was only a small knife. There was a lot of blood. It was on the floor. On both her hands and on her legs.”
Katerzis added: “I think the guy was mentally disturbed. He is only a skinny guy. He didn’t say anything when they arrested him and took him to the van. It was like he was on drugs or something.
“I don’t think it was a robbery. He just started stabbing her for no reason.”
Joy Akan, who also works for Toot buses, filmed the suspect on his phone after his arrest. The video showed a lightly built man in a black T-shirt with an Abbey Road logo on the front. He was wearing black tracksuit trousers. The video was time stamped at 11.41am.
Akan said: “Suddenly I saw the police running. They had already arrested the guy when I filmed it. I didn’t hear screaming because there’s always screaming here. It’s a very noisy spot.”
In a statement, the force said: “Officers are at the scene of a stabbing in Leicester Square. A man has been arrested and is in custody.
“We don’t believe there are any outstanding suspects. Two victims, an 11-year-old girl and a 34-year-old woman, have been taken to hospital and we await an update on their condition.”
A London ambulance service spokesperson said an adult and child had been taken to a major trauma centre.