Trafalgar Square brawl leads to stabbings and arrests

A day after gangs of youths armed with knives, hockey sticks and other weapons fought running battles across Trafalgar Square, British detectives were questioning 19 teenagers over the stabbing of three people.

Eyewitnesses said young men clashed violently during "90 minutes of mayhem" on Thursday on the pedestrianised area around Nelson's Column and on nearby roads.

Dozens of police raced to the square and arrested 19 people, the youngest of whom was 14. "Officers were called to the scene at around [4 p.m.] to reports of a large fight and a man being stabbed," a Metropolitan Police statement said.

Three teenagers — one 18-year-old and two aged 19 — were in stable condition in central London hospitals suffering from stab wounds, according to Sky News.

The fighting is believed to have involved rival gangs of Albanian Kosovars from several parts of the capital, according to the Daily Mail. The fighting took place on the third anniversary of Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia.

Investigators have seized footage from several CCTV and traffic cameras that cover the area around the square.

Superintendent Simon Ovens told the Daily Echo: "This appears to have been a spontaneous incident and our officers were on scene extremely quickly, resulting in 19 people currently being held in custody.

"However, it is going to take some time for us to speak to them all and establish a clear picture of exactly what happened. Trafalgar Square is an incredibly busy place and I would urge anyone who was in the vicinity yesterday evening and may have seen something to come forward and talk to us.

"This sort of violence will not be tolerated in any part of central London and will always result in the robust police response we saw yesterday."

Commemorating the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar, the central London square is one of the most famous in the world and is often used as a focal point for political demonstrations and community gatherings.

It was most recently used by groups protesting in solidarity with those in Cairo's Tahrir Square calling for the resignation of Egypt's president Hosni Mubarak.