A "major incident" has been declared by police in the British city of Birmingham after multiple people were injured in a series of stabbings early Sunday.
There were "a number" of victims although the severity of their injuries was not immediately known, West Midlands Police said in a statement.
After officers were called to reports a stabbing in the center of the city in central England with a population of 2.5 million, at around 12:30 a.m. local time (7:30 p.m. ET), the statement said.
"A number of other stabbings were reported in the area shortly after," the statement 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," it added.
The force later declared a "major incident" which it definesas any emergency that requires special arrangements by one or more of the emergency services.
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A witness told the BBC's Radio Five Live that she thought it was "one group of boys against another group of boys."
"They were not just having an argument and then fighting, it was straight into fists being thrown. There was not much talking going on."
She added that "rings were falling off so jewelry was going everywhere, clothes were being torn."
Police said work was "going on to establish what has happened."
"At this early stage it would not be appropriate to speculate on the causes of the incident," the statement said.
