A man was stabbed to death at a Korean restaurant in a side-road off Oxford Street at the heart of London’s West End today – to the horror of passing shoppers.
Armed police and ambulance services rushed to Arirang Restaurant on Poland Street, Soho, shortly before midday, and found a man with knife wounds.
Both London Ambulance Service and the air ambulance attended but the victim died at the scene 40 minutes later.
A man in his fifties was arrested outside the restaurant on suspicion of murder.
The incident is alleged to have involved workers at the restaurant, which claims to be the first in the UK having opened in 1975.
A worker in a nearby shop said the violence had broken out inside.
Another onlooker said: ‘I saw two men outside the Korean restaurant arguing. They were really shouting at each other.
‘I couldn’t hear what they were saying but they appeared to be Korean. Then they both went inside.’
A man was stabbed to death at a Korean restaurant in a side-road off Oxford Street at the heart of London’s West End today – to the horror of passing shoppers. Pictured, police cordon off Poland Street
Armed police and ambulance services rushed to Arirang Restaurant on Poland Street, Soho, shortly before midday, and found a man with knife wounds. Pictured, forensics at the scene
Police and ambulance services rushed to the Arirang Restaurant on Poland Street (seen on the left of the first white van) shortly before midday
Both London Ambulance Service and the air ambulance attended but the victim was pronounced dead at the scene 40 minutes later
Pedestrians gathered behind a police cordon near the scene of the reported stabbing on Poland Street, a side road near Oxford Street, central London
Police are pictured gathering near the scene of a stabbing in a Korean restaurant in Soho, central London, which has left one man dead
Four people have now been murdered in London over just three days in another spate of violence. There have been 57 homicides over the year so far.
The Met said: ‘At 11:40am 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.’
A London Ambulance Service spokesman said: ‘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.’
A police officer stands guard near the scene of the stabbing, which happened on Poland Street shortly before midday
Forensics and police officers are pictured at the scene on Poland Street, just off Oxford Street
Today’s incident is the fourth murder in London in three days.
On Saturday, a 25-year-old man shot dead in Walthamstow, east London, after ‘all hell broke loose’ outside a baby’s first birthday party.
One neighbour, who gave their first name only as Terry, saw an argument in the street before the shooting.
‘I was in my flat and I saw someone with a hoodie run through the gate outside between the tree and the fence – I get anxious when people do that, running up past the window of my flat,’ he said.
‘Anyways, next thing I hear crack crack crack, and I thought it was someone pulling a prank letting firecrackers loose. There’d been a row in the 20 mins before that on the street.
‘I heard shouting and language being used but I don’t know what was going on with that. Then the shooting noises, that to me hadn’t sounded like a gunshot and all hell broke loose.’
A policeman guarding a cordon at the end of Poland Street in Soho this afternoon
A man in his fifties was arrested outside the restaurant on suspicion of murder. Pictured: Onlookers next to a police cordon
On Saturday morning, a man in his 30s was found dead at his home in Lewisham, south-east London.
Afterwards, a 53-year-old man turned himself in at a police station and was arrested for murder.
And yesterday in Dagenham, a 60-year-old man was killed following a fight in the early hours of the morning.
Detective Chief Inspector Kate Blackburn said: ‘At this stage we believe an altercation happened between a group of men and the victim, who was with a friend. This then became physical, leading to the victim sadly suffering fatal injuries.’
Three men were arrested.