Triple Stabbing at Urban Music Awards
The
indigo2 at O2 Arena saw stabbings and violence halt the Urban Music
Awards last night. Three people suffered stab injuries when violence
broke out at the London venue.
Kenza Darley (Sun 16 Nov '08)
The Urban Music Awards celebrates the achievements of the dance, hip-hop, garage and urban music genres. This was the sixth Urban Music show and nominees included artists Estelle, Adele, Leona Lewis, Dizzee Rascal and Duffy.
London
ambulance service reported that three people were treated at the scene
of violence and are now being cared for in hospital.
Eyewitnesses said the rampage began one and a half hours into the awards show when chairs and bottles of champagne flew and a large brawl broke out among the crowd.
Guest, 24-year-old Andre Nevling told Sky News
that a woman seated at his table was "covered" in blood. "Obviously the
guy who got stabbed must have run straight past her and she's pretty
shaken up," he told Sky.
Police
said a man has been arrested in connection with the incident and that
300 people have been questioned over the violence at the venue.
Other attendees claimed to have seen guns and knives and a concern that security measures at the venue were inadequate.
A guest Natalie Williams, 32, told the BBC:
"Before anything even happened I commented to my boyfriend, because we
live nearby and come here a lot, and we usually get screened coming
into the building. Tonight there was nothing."
O2 told RedKarpet :
"The O2 has invested in a permanent, full-time, dedicated on-site Metropolitan Police team. Additionally our own extensive security team works very closely with this team, all divisions of the Metropolitan Police and London Borough of Greenwich to ensure customer safety, which is paramount.
"This is the
first incident of this nature to have occurred. All the usual pre event
risk assessment was carried out between The O2, the Metropolitan Police
and Greenwich. We have released all images from our extensive CCTV
network to the police and are currently sitting down with all parties
to review the details of the incident and any lessons that can be
learned.
"The
Metropolitan Police were called at approx 2210 on Saturday 15th
November to reports of a stabbing inside The O2 in Greenwich. Officers
and London Ambulance Service attended and discovered a man - aged 27
yrs - suffering stab wounds. He was taken to an east London hospital
where he is now believed to be in a stable condition.
"A
second man - aged 30 - was also taken to hospital for treatment to
minor injuries and was discharged a short while later. Officers from
Greenwich CID are investigating. A 21 yr old man was arrested at the
scene and remains in custody at a south London police station."
RK__________________________