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Pimlico station
Pimlico tube station in central London, close to the site of the stabbing. Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian
Pimlico tube station in central London, close to the site of the stabbing. Photograph: Graham Turner for the Guardian

Teenager stabbed to death in Pimlico

This article is more than 11 years old
Police launch murder inquiry after attack on boy by 'gang carrying swords' in central London

A teenager, believed to be 16, has died after he was stabbed in Pimlico, central London, shortly before 7pm on Sunday night.

Mohammed Alzubaidi, 49, from nearby Peabody Close, said his friend witnessed a gang of teenagers carrying out the attack. "He said they were carrying knives, some of them with wide swords. He said the victim was screaming and trying to get away," Alzubaidi said. He said his friend told him the gang had scattered and run off in different directions.

The fatally injured teenager was found by ambulance staff after emergency services were called to the Lupus Street area following reports that a young person had been stabbed. He was taken to a south London hospital, where he died a few hours later.

A spokesman for the Metropolitan police said a murder inquiry has been launched but there have been no arrests.

The murder scene remained cordoned off on Monday with a number of police present. The street, close to Pimlico underground station, is bordered by extensive council estates on one side and is home to Pimlico academy.

A 58-year-old local resident, who did not want to be named, said there had been two murders in a nearby street in recent years and a stabbing of a boy outside a row of shops in Lupus Street before Christmas.

"The violence that has started to occur around here is something else. It is frightening for all the residents," she said. "You used to be able to walk around at night but I am starting to be very wary, especially at night-time."

Nickie Aiken, Westminster city council's portfolio holder for community protection, said the murder would be "top of the agenda" at a meeting with the Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, on Monday afternoon.

She said: "Our thoughts are with the family of this teenager and we will offer whatever help we can.

"Westminster city council is committed to keeping the streets safe – including tackling gang culture – and we will work over the coming days and weeks to reassure the community of that."

A 22-year-old resident of a block of flats overlooking the murder scene, who asked not to be named, said: "I came outside just seconds after it happened because I heard a lot of commotion and the victim was shouting.

"I came outside and saw the victim standing and holding his stomach and about three or four young blokes running down the street opposite.

"He was reeling and swaying for about 20 seconds and then fell and then people started gathering and calling the ambulance."

The resident said emergency teams had worked for a "long time" at the scene in an effort to save his life.

"It was a pretty serious wound – you could see it from a long way off. It was horrible."

More on this story

More on this story

  • Four men jailed for murder of 17-year-old boy

  • Dogan Ismail murder: police release picture of wanted boy

  • Two teenagers get life sentences for murdering innocent schoolboy

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