'3 Asian girls shouting Allah’ stab woman on London high street
A nursery worker has been stabbed on a London high street by three young women reportedly chanting “Allah,” but police say the incident was not related to terrorism.
Karrien Stevens, who runs the Little Diamonds nursery in Hermon Hill, confirmed that one of her employees, aged in her 30s, was stabbed in the arm while walking to work on Wednesday morning.
The victim was on Wanstead High Street in north London when she was attacked.
Although Stevens reported the attackers chanted “Allah” as they carried out the assault, police have confirmed they are not treating the incident as a terrorist attack.
Emails were sent out to parents saying local schools had been put on “lockdown” following the incident.
Stevens said the attackers pulled her employee to the ground before stabbing her in the arm.
They then fled the scene when a man ran to the victim’s rescue.
“When she got to work we couldn’t believe it and called the police straight away,” the nursery director said, according to the Daily Mail.
“It’s terrible, I’m absolutely horrified.”
According to a colleague, who asked to remain anonymous, the victim claimed she was attacked by “three Asian girls behind her chanting the Koran and ‘Allah.’”
“She’s okay, considering,” the colleague said.
“Obviously it’s a shock, she’s in shock. She was in tears and she had a cut right up her arm,” she said, according to the Daily Mail.
“Her stomach was hurting, she had marks all over her, her hair was pulled out.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed the woman had sustained “slash wounds.”
“We were called at 9.36am to reports of a stabbing in Hermon Hill,” a Met spokeswoman said, according to the Ilford Recorder.
“Officers responding to the scene discovered a woman in her 30s who had suffered slash wounds.
“Her injuries are not life threatening but she has been taken to hospital as a precaution.
“The three suspects fled the scene before police officers arrived and they are still not accounted for.”
The incident has been reported to the Counter Terrorism Command but no investigation will be carried out.
“It’s scary that something like this can happen right in front of your doorstep,” Stevens told the Recorder.
“What is going on at the moment out there? It’s ridiculous. I don’t know what these people were hoping to achieve.”
A local authority spokeswoman said: “Redbridge Council were advised of a reported stabbing in the north of the borough this morning.
“We informed schools and early years providers of this incident and advised them to take precautions to keep children safe until we could clarify the situation. We have now given them updated information and advice.”
The incident follows a terrorist attack on Saturday evening in central London that killed eight people and injured 48.
Three attackers plowed a van into a crowd of people on London Bridge before going on a knife rampage in nearby Borough Market.
The perpetrators were all shot dead by police within eight minutes of the incident being reported.
Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attack.
