![\"Violent](\"https:\/\/c.ndtvimg.com\/2023-11\/vp4o46ps_dublin-stabbing_625x300_24_November_23.jpeg\"\/ "\\"Violent")
<\/div>\nNumber of police vehicles were damaged in violent clash in Dublin following knife attack.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Dublin: <\/b><\/p>\n
Protesters in Dublin on Thursday torched a car and fought police, an AFP journalist reported, after three children were injured in a suspected school stabbing that social media rumours attributed to a foreign national.<\/p>\n
A five-year-old girl sustained serious injuries and four other people, including two children, were taken to hospital after the incident at a city centre primary school, which occurred shortly after 1:30 pm (1330 GMT).<\/p>\n
Hundreds of people took to the streets after rumours circulated of the attacker’s nationality, some fighting with police and attacking vehicles, according to the AFP journalist.<\/p>\n
Police chief Drew Harris blamed a “complete lunatic faction driven by far-right ideology” for the disorder and warned against the spread of “misinformation”.<\/p>\n
He said a number of police vehicles had been damaged, with video footage showing one car on fire.<\/p>\n
One protester told AFP that “Irish people are being attacked by these scum.”<\/p>\n
Police earlier declared a major incident and threw up a cordon around Parnell Square in the heart of the Irish capital but said they do not suspect a terror motive.<\/p>\n
Irish media and eyewitnesses reported that a man armed with a knife had stabbed the victims outside the school.<\/p>\n
Witnesses told how a man had been disarmed and prime minister Leo Varadkar said a suspect had been arrested.<\/p>\n
– ‘Standalone attack’ –<\/strong> It added: “Five casualties have been taken to various hospitals in the Dublin region.<\/p>\n “The casualties include an adult male, an adult female and three young children.”<\/p>\n Superintendent Liam Geraghty later told media that “a young girl aged five years has sustained serious injuries and is currently receiving emergency medical treatment.”<\/p>\n A five-year-old boy and a six-year-old girl sustained less serious wounds and the boy has since been discharged, he added.<\/p>\n The woman was being treated for serious injuries in hospital, while the man, said to be aged in his 50s, was a “person of interest” for police, revealed Geraghty.<\/p>\n The police officer said that “from my understanding a knife was used in the attack”.<\/p>\n “I’m very strongly satisfied from our inquiries that there is no terror-related activity,” he said, adding: “It would appear to be a standalone attack.”<\/p>\n Witness Siobhan Kearney said the scene was “absolutely bedlam” as she initially watched events unfold from the other side of the street.<\/p>\n “Without thinking, I just took across the road to help out,” she told Irish national broadcaster RTE.<\/p>\n “We got another young man, disarmed him (the attacker) with the knife, another man took the knife and put it away for the (police) to find it.”<\/p>\n Kearney added a group of people restrained the suspect on the ground, as some of those injured were taken back inside the school.<\/p>\n – ‘Horrified’ –<\/strong> “The emergency services responded very quickly and were on site within minutes. I thank them for that,” he said in a statement.<\/p>\n “Gardai have detained a suspect and are following a definite line of inquiry.”<\/p>\n Local lawmaker Aodhan O Riordain, of the Irish Labour Party, said the incident was “disturbing”.<\/p>\n “Hope injuries are not serious but it will (be) extremely traumatising regardless for all involved,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter.<\/p>\n Mary Lou McDonald, leader of the Sinn Fein opposition party, said she was “horrified” by what had happened.<\/p>\n “There is shock throughout the community. I have just spoken to the Principal of Gaelscoil Cholaiste Mhuire and relayed my support to the school community,” she said in a statement.<\/p>\n “I want to send my solidarity to the families of those attacked. As a parent, I can only imagine what they are going through right now,” she added, praising the police for their swift response.<\/p>\n (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Police, the Garda Siochana, said in a statement they were “following a definite line of inquiry” and were “not looking for any other person at this time”.<\/p>\n
Varadkar said he was shocked by the incident.<\/p>\n