Two children have died and nine have been injured in a knife attack at a Taylor Swift dance event.

Merseyside Police confirmed the deaths of two children following a stabbing at a property on Hart Street in Southport at about 11:50 BST.

Six of the nine injured children are in a “critical condition” the force said, with two adults also in a critical condition.

Police said a 17-year-old, from Banks in Lancashire, and originally from Cardiff, has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder.

Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said told a police press conference that the children following reports of a stabbing at 11:47 BST on Monday at an address in Southport.

She said when officers arrived they “were shocked” to find that multiple people, many of whom were children, had been subjected to a “ferocious attack” and had suffered serious injuries.

“It is understood that the children were attending a Taylor Swift event at a dance school when the offender armed with a knife walked into the premises and started to attack the children,” she said.

“We believe that the adults who were injured were bravely trying to protect the children who were being attacked.”

Ms Kennedy said Merseyside Police was not looking for anyone else in connection with the attack and though the “motivation for the incident remains unclear”, it was not being treated as terror-related.

Journalist Tim Johnson, from Eye on Southport, said the incident happened at the Hope of Hart children’s club, which is housed in a former warehouse building on a back street.

He said a Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance workshop for primary school children aged six to 10 had been taking place at the time of the attack. The organisers have been contacted for comment but have not responded.

Mr Johnson said those hurt were children and he had seen one girl seriously injured on a stretcher.

“It was horrendous. I’ve never seen anything like it,” he said. “There were so many police cars, it was a mass of blue lights. I saw ambulance men and women in tears. People were in tears in the streets.”

Alder Hey Children’s Hospital said it had declared a “major incident” and its emergency department was currently “extremely busy”.

It said parents should only bring children in if it was urgent, adding all other appointments and services were running as normal.

NWAS said it “dispatched 13 ambulances along with specialised resources” to the scene and had also taken patients with stab injuries to Aintree University Hospital and Southport and Formby Hospital.

Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) confirmed its Langwathby-based critical care team worked with North West Air Ambulance, Midlands Air Ambulance Charity and other emergency services at the scene.

A GNAAS spokesman added: “We delivered advanced emergency care to one patient before accompanying them to hospital by road.”

A business owner who called the police said the attack was like a “scene in a horror movie”.

Colin Parry, owner of Masters Vehicle Body Repairs on Hart Street, said he believed six or seven “young girls” had been stabbed.

“It’s like something from America, not like sunny Southport,” he said.

Mr Parry told BBC Radio 5 Live that a builder helped lead some of the children away from the scene of the attack and neighbours helped take “about 10 girls to safety”.

“The community was coming together, everyone was trying to help. Everyone was trying to save the young kids,” he added.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the multiple stabbings were “horrendous and deeply shocking” as he thanked emergency services for their response.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said she was “deeply concerned” about the “very serious incident”, while Southport MP Patrick Hurley added that he was “hoping for the best possible outcomes to the casualties affected”.

Steve Rotheram, mayor of Liverpool City Region, has urged the public not to spread “unconfirmed speculation and false information”. (BBC)

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