LONDON – Protests broke out in central Dublin on Thursday night after Irish police said a 5-year-old girl was receiving emergency medical treatment following an attack involving a knife.
A woman and two other children were injured.
Irish police said they were not treating the case as terrorism-related and that a man in his 50s, who was also hospitalized with serious injuries, is a “person of interest.”
Police said they have a “definite line of inquiry” and were not looking for anyone else in connection with the violence outside a school in the heart of Dublin shortly after 1:30 p.m.
In the early afternoon, protesters fired flares and fireworks at the police cordon in Dublin around the scene of the incident.
Police, armed with shields, repelled violent protesters who attempted to kick and punch them. Many of those who attacked the police had their faces covered.
During the riots in the city center several police vehicles and a tram were damaged. A bus and a car also caught fire on the city’s O’Connell Bridge.
Police at the scene where three children and two adults were injured in a stabbing in Dublin, Ireland, November 23, 2023.@naoiseomuiri/AFP via Getty Images The stabbing took place near a primary school in Parnell Square East.REUTERS
“The scenes we are witnessing this afternoon in our city center cannot and will not be tolerated,” said Justice Minister Helen McEntee. “A thuggish and manipulative element must not be allowed to use a horrific tragedy to wreak havoc.”
Earlier, Superintendent Liam Geraghty told a news conference that preliminary indications are that a man attacked several people in Parnell Square East.
He said police believe it was “a stand-alone incident, not necessarily related to broader issues happening in the country or the city, and we need to identify the exact reasons why that happened.”
People protesting in the streets after the mass stabbing in Dublin.REUTERS
Geraghty confirmed earlier witness reports that a knife was used in the attack, but was unable to provide further details about the nature of the injuries.
He also confirmed that witnesses tried to disarm the man as soon as they saw what was happening.
“My understanding is that the public intervened at a very, very early stage and we would applaud those members of the public for getting involved in such a traumatic and potentially dangerous situation for themselves,” Geraghty said.
People lighting flares in the street near the scene of the stabbing.REUTERS A car on fire in Dublin after the protest over the stabbing.REUTERS Dublin police gathered near a burning vehicle.AP
He said the woman, in her 30s, suffered serious injuries, while the other two children, a 5-year-old boy and a 6-year-old girl, suffered less serious injuries.
The boy has been discharged from the hospital, he added.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn