A third child has died, and five remain in a critical condition, after an attack on a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport.
Eleven children and two adults were stabbed in what police described as a “ferocious attack” in a studio on Hart Street on Monday morning, 10 minutes before the class was due to end.
In an update on Tuesday, police said a nine-year-old girl had died as a result of her injuries, while the two children who died on Monday, also girls, were aged six and seven.
Five children and two adults remained in a critical condition after being injured during the incident.
A 17-year-old boy, from the Lancashire village of Banks but born in Cardiff, has been arrested on suspicion of murder and attempted murder, with police saying the motive remained unclear.
The suspect, who police said was armed with a knife, was being questioned by police on Tuesday. The force is not treating the incident as terrorism-related.
The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, travelled to the Merseyside town and was expected to be joined later by the prime minister.
Cooper laid flowers at the police cordon on Hart Street, along with the Southport MP, Patrick Hurley, the Merseyside police chief constable, Serena Kennedy, Merseyside fire and rescue service’s chief fire officer, Phil Garrigan, and the Merseyside police and crime commissioner, Emily Spurrell.
Cooper and Hurley embraced as they spent several minutes reading tributes to the victims.
Keir Starmer joined King Charles in offering condolences to the victims on Monday, saying: “The whole country is deeply shocked at what they have seen and what they have heard.”
Charles said he and Queen Camilla had been “profoundly shocked” to hear of the “utterly horrific incident in Southport”, while the Prince and Princess of Wales described it as a “horrid and heinous” attack.
Taylor Swift spoke out about the attack on Tuesday, saying she was “completely in shock”. The US singer said in a post on Instagram: “These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families.”
Hurley said it was a “tragic and uniquely horrific event”. A vigil was planned near the scene of the attack on Tuesday evening.
“It’s almost beyond comprehension, what happened yesterday,” he told BBC Radio 4. “The town is waking up this morning really in shock, and in grief. There are barely any adequate words to express what happened and how we’re all feeling.”
The Southport MP praised the response of local community and church groups in Southport for coming together to support those affected.
“This is a lovely, quite quiet and sleepy town on the coast. This is a traditional seaside resort and this is not the sort of thing anyone is remotely prepared for, but the response has been fantastic,” he said.
Hurley urged people to avoid speculation on social media that could “inflame tensions” in the area. “The town doesn’t want that. The town is in mourning, the town is in shock, and we need to make sure that what is online is reflective of the reality on the ground,” he said.
Children of primary school age – the same age as many of the victims – were among those leaving flowers, teddy bears and other tributes near the scene on Tuesday.
One message reads: “For the lost angels. You will never be forgotten. Too beautiful for this world. In the arms of our lord, you are now safe. Keep dancing. Shine bright. We are Southport, we stand together.”
Local residents described scenes of panic and terror in the immediate aftermath of the attack, as parents frantically tried to find their children, many of whom were being treated for their injuries in the street.
Colin Parry, the owner of Masters Vehicle Body Repairs, about 50 metres from the dance studio, said he had a heated exchange with a person he believed to be the attacker moments before the stabbings took place.
“He came down our driveway in a taxi and didn’t pay for the taxi, so I confronted him at that point. He was quite aggressive, he said: ‘What are you gonna do about it?’” he said.
Parry added that a member of staff then saw “about 10 kids go running past him, all bleeding, and one of them collapsed on the floor”.
ITV News has published footage of a masked individual pacing in front of a house they say was later raided by police in Banks, a village about five miles from the scene of the attack.
An individual wearing a green hoodie and a face mask can be seen walking back and forth outside the house, with footage later showing several police cars and a group of officers, including some who are armed, appearing at the same house.