London’s famous carnivals that take place every year in Notting Hill have turned into an arena of unprecedented violence with more than 8 injured with cutting tools and a police officer sexually assaulted.
Shocking images published by the British tabloids show some of the young people who took part in the carnival, armed with large machetes as they attack other people in the middle of the street in broad daylight.
One of the photos shows a young man approaching a group of boys while waving a giant machete in the air as many stand behind him and watch.
The person who took the photos said he was in the wrong place and at the wrong time, claiming that the joyous celebration suddenly turned into war and violence between two gangs with knives and machetes.
The Metropolitan Police Federation revealed that six officers were bitten, one was sexually assaulted and another was so seriously injured that he ended up in hospital.
They described the attacks on the 75 officers as absolutely despicable.
The Metropolitan Police added that the final day of the carnival saw eight people stabbed in one night. A 29-year-old man is in a critical condition after being stabbed in Warfield Road, but there have been other similar incidents.
A 19-year-old man was stabbed in Ladbroke Grove just before 8pm and remains in a serious but stable condition in hospital. Meanwhile, six other men aged 18, 19, 20, 25, 28 and 40 were stabbed in separate incidents.