At least three people were stabbed during the opening day of the Notting Hill Carnival in London, with one victim reportedly in hard condition, Fox News reports, citing the Metropolitan Police.
The victims of the stabbing attack are a 32-year-old woman (she was hospitalized with serious injuries) and two men aged 29 and 24.
“Hundreds of thousands of people came to Notting Hill Carnival today to enjoy a fantastic celebration,” the Metropolitan Police said. “Our officers have been on duty working to keep them safe as part of a very carefully planned policing operation.”
However, some people engaged in violent clashes with the police, though none sustained grave wounds.
In total, police made 90 arrests for various offenses throughout the day. Arrests included ten for assaulting emergency workers, 18 for possession of offensive weapons, four for sexual offenses, one for theft, four for robbery, six for assault, and eight for drug-related offenses. Among these, four arrests were specifically for possession of nitrous oxide.
The Notting Hill Carnival, one of the world’s largest celebrations of Caribbean music and culture, typically attracts hundreds of thousands of revelers to the streets of west London. This year’s festivities are held on August 25-26 and commemorate a tradition that dates back to 1958. The fest was created by Trinidadian human rights activist Claudia Jones, who organized a gathering to foster community unity after a series of racist attacks against Black residents in the Notting Hill area.
Originally launched in 1964 with a handful of Trinidadian steel bands, the carnival has since evolved into a vibrant annual street party featuring colorful floats, thousands of calypso dancers in elaborate feathered costumes, nearly 20 steel bands, and over two dozen sound systems. After being forced to transition to an online format for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the carnival returned to its traditional roots in the narrow streets of Notting Hill in 2022.
