8 People Stabbed, 334 Arrested At London’s Notting Hill Carnival, 50 Police Personnel Injured

Eight people were stabbed over the course of two days during the Notting Hill Carnival, with three victims in life-threatening condition. 

The Metropolitan Police said 334 people were arrested over the weekend in one of the world’s largest street festivals held every year in West London. Most of the arrests were made for the possession an offensive weapon or drug offences.

Five people were stabbed on the final day of the three-day event, with two of those attacked being critically injured. Meanwhile, there were three stabbings on Sunday.

One of the victims in Sunday stabbing included a young mother, who attended the community festival with her child and narrowly escaped death after being stabbed on Sunday. After the stabbing on Sunday, there was a heavy police presence following the incident.

The incident comes as thousands of revellers turned out on the final day of the carnival, flooding the streets with dance and music.

Meanwhile, police recovered three firearms on Monday, including two at the carnival itself. The Metropolitan Police said a total of 50 officers have been injured during the event.

In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said, “Carnival is one of the world’s most significant street festivals. Every year around a million people come to celebrate and take part in what has become a fixture in London’s cultural calendar.”

“But for many reasons it is also a challenging event to police with very dense crowds and a regrettable history of a minority of people using it as an opportunity to commit crime, including violence,” they added.

A man, wanted for an attempted murder in Hackney in July, was also spotted during the event and arrested. 

The 56th edition of the carnival reportedly drew a million people to the streets of west London to celebrate the city’s diversity and its Caribbean community.

Thousands of police personnel were deployed to the street party, with the police saying that said was a “challenging event to police with very dense crowds”. The carnival is referred to as “the greatest community-led event on the planet” by the organisers.