Birmingham stabbings: 'A number' of victims after early morning incident

Police said the response would be ongoing "for some time" and urged people to stay away from the scene.

Picture taken with permission from the Twitter feed of @ShaunInBrum showing a cordon after reports of multiple stabbings in Birmingham in the early hours of Sunday. @ShaunInBrum/PA Wire

Multiple people have been injured in a series of stabbings in Birmingham.

West Midlands Police said there were "a number" of victims, but the severity of their injuries was not immediately known.

Officers were called to reports of a stabbing at around 12.30am on Sunday, which was then followed by reports of other incidents in the area.

The force said: "We are aware of a number of injured people, but at the moment we are not in a position to say how many or how serious.

"However, all emergency services are working together at the scene, and making sure that those who are injured receive medical care.

"Work is still going on to establish what has happened, and could take some time before we are in a position to confirm anything. At this early stage it would not be appropriate to speculate on the causes of the incident."

Police said the response would be ongoing "for some time" and urged people to stay away from the scene.

West Midlands Police added there had not been any reports of gunshots during the incident.

The force said: "We're aware of some comments that gunshots were fired, this has not been reported to us at this stage."

One witness, Cara, told BBC Radio Five Live she thought it was "one group of boys against another group of boys".

She told the station she had heard racial slurs during the incident, adding it was a "multicultural night" in the clubs near the Arcadia complex.

She added: "They were not just having an argument and then fighting, it was straight into fists being thrown. There was not much talking going on.

"Drinks were being dropped, bottles that they had obviously bought in the club, rings were falling off so jewellery was going everywhere, clothes were being torn.

"One of the males actually ended up with his hair being pulled out and left with a bald patch."

More to follow…

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