BIRMINGHAM 6 Sep (ANA) - One man has died with seven others injured after a ‘random’ series of stabbings in Birmingham.

Reports of the first attack came in at around 12.30am today, which was then followed by reports of other incidents in the area.

Dominic Raab said a ‘very serious incident’ had occurred, adding he was not aware of any information providing a link to terrorism. 

He told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show: ‘We know it’s a very serious incident. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families. 

‘I think at this point in time we don’t know too much more than that other than to say the public should be very vigilant.’

 Mr Marr asked: ‘At this stage we’re not treating it as a terrorist incident?’

Mr Raab replied: ‘I haven’t got any information to that extent.’

 West Midlands Police said: ‘We are aware of a number of injured people, but at the moment we are not in a position to say how many or how serious. ‘However, all emergency services are working together at the scene, and making sure that those who are injured receive medical care. ‘Work is still going on to establish what has happened, and could take some time before we are in a position to confirm anything.

 At this early stage it would not be appropriate to speculate on the causes of the incident.

We can confirm that at approximately 12:30am today we were called to reports of a stabbing in #Birmingham city centre. We immediately attended, along with colleagues from the ambulance service.

West Midlands Police said there had not been any reports of gunshots during the incident. The force said: ‘We’re aware of some comments that gunshots were fired, this has not been reported to us at this stage.’ A police officer at a cordon in Irving Street in Birmingham (Picture: PA) One witness, Cara, told BBC Radio Five Live she thought it was ‘one group of boys against another group of boys’. She told the station she had heard racial slurs during the incident, adding it was a ‘multicultural night’ in the clubs near the Arcadia complex. She added: ‘They were not just having an argument and then fighting, it was straight into fists being thrown. There was not much talking going on. ‘Drinks were being dropped, bottles that they had obviously bought in the club, rings were falling off so jewellery was going everywhere, clothes were being torn.(ANA)

FA/ANA/6 September 2020----