Birmingham stabbings leave one dead, 7 hurt

LONDON, Sept 06 (BBC): Police have launched a murder investigation after being called to reports of stabbings in Birmingham city centre in the early hours of Sunday.

One man died, another man and a woman suffered serious injuries, while five others received injuries which were not thought to be life-threatening.

Chief Superintendent Steve Graham said there was "absolutely no suggestion" the attacks were terror related.

West Midlands Police are hunting for one suspect in relation to the attacks.

The force released a statement, saying: "Detectives are following a number of lines of enquiry and we've increased our uniformed and armed response in the city.

"We continue to hold a number of scenes across the city, including Livery Street, Irving Street and Hurst Street.

"We're urging anyone who witnessed anything or anyone who has any CCTV or mobile phone footage to get in contact as soon as possible, as the information you have may be crucial to our investigation."

Chief Superintendent Steve Graham, responsible for policing in Birmingham, said: "The events during the early hours of this morning are tragic, shocking and understandably frightening.

"Please be assured that we are doing absolutely everything we can to find whoever was responsible and try to understand what exactly happened."

Anyone with information is asked to contact us via Live Chat on our website or call 101.

The BBC's Nick Clitheroe, at the scene, said it had unfolded in a part of Birmingham where the area known as the Gay Village meets the Chinese Quarter, which is typically busy at night with clubs and bars.

He added: "This appears to have started out as a major fight between large groups of people but obviously at some point knives have been pulled and stabbings have taken place."

"This will be very worrying for all the people living around here."

Our correspondent added that there had also been activity on Irving Street, less than half a mile away from the original epicentre of the incident.