A 36-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday in east London after attacking passers-by with a sword and injuring at least five people, in an incident that, according to police, “does not appear to be linked to terrorism.”
The police received a call “shortly before 7am” 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,” it said in a statement, specifying that, according to witnesses, the suspect had attacked bystanders “and two police officers.”
The London ambulance service stated on the social network X that it had “attended five people” who were taken to hospital.
“We are awaiting information on the condition of the injured,” police said.
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 a “dreadful incident”.
“Such violence has no place in our streets,” he wrote on the social network X.
The mayor of London, Labor’s 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%, to almost 50,000, in England and Wales.
In London, they soared 20%, 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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