A man has been stabbed to death close to one of London's busiest shopping streets in broad daylight. Despite the best efforts of the emergency services, the man was sadly pronounced dead at the scene in Poland Street, W1.
The side street is close to Oxford Street, one of the busiest roads for shoppers and tourists in Europe, with thousands of visitors to the area every day. A man has been arrested in connection with the knifing, which happened at 11.40am today (Monday, August 15).
The victim of the stabbing, which reportedly happened at Korean restaurant Arirang on Poland Street, is believed to be a chef, MyLondon reports. He was pronounced dead at 12.20pm, 40 minutes after the 999 calls were made.
The street has been cordoned off by police, with images showing police cars and officers at the scene.
London Ambulance Service said that the first paramedic dispatched to the incident on Poland Street was on the scene in less than seven minutes. Sadly, despite the efforts of an ambulance crew, paramedic, fast response car and air ambulance, the patient died at the scene.
A London Ambulance Service spokesman told PA: “We were called at 11.36am today to reports of a stabbing in Poland Street, central London. We sent an ambulance crew, a paramedic in a fast response car and an incident response officer to the scene.
“We also dispatched London’s Air Ambulance. Our first paramedic arrived in less than seven minutes. Despite the best efforts of our teams, the patient sadly died at the scene.”
The fatal stabbing of the man on Poland Street today marks the 57th homicide in London so far this year, PA reports. Poland Street has been cordoned off but the Met Police says there is "no risk to the wider public".
They said: "At 11:40hrs on Monday, August 15, police were called to reports of a stabbing in Poland Street, W1.
"Officers attended with the London Ambulance Service and London’s Air Ambulance. A man was found with stab wounds.
"Despite the best efforts of the emergency services he was pronounced dead at the scene at 12:20hrs. His identity has yet to be confirmed.
"A man has been arrested in connection with the incident."
Sean Syrett, who works in the nearby EE store on Oxford Circus, told the Mirror there was a "massive" crowd around the entrance of Poland Street, which remained cordoned off around 3.30pm.
"There are loads of people there just trying to see what is going on," Sean said. He and his colleagues had seen on Twitter that there had been a stabbing.
"We had two people come in earlier that were waiting in the store for everything to settle down - I think it may have been a bit much just with there being so many people about," Sean added.
