UK: 39 police officers injured in riots after child killings (updated)

Mass riots broke out after three girls were killed at a dance school in Southport, Britain, and dozens of police officers were injured.

A knife attack at a children's dance studio in the British city of Southport left three children dead and 10 in hospital. Unrest began the following day, with protesters filling the streets throwing bricks at a local mosque and police officers, and setting cars and rubbish bins on fire. According to police, the unrest was mainly attended by members of the far-right Islamophobic group English Defence League.

39 police officers were injured during the mass riots (video), 27 are in hospital, the regional ambulance service reported on the night of July 31. According to the police, the law enforcement officers suffered broken bones, cuts, concussions and other injuries, writes Deutsche Welle: In connection with the unrest, the police have been given expanded powers for a day to search for and arrest suspects.

The death toll from a knife attack in northern England on July 30 has risen to three, with a 9-year-old girl dying in hospital from her wounds. reported Merseyside Police on Tuesday. The other two girls killed were aged 6 and 7. Eight other children and two adults remain in hospital. The adults and five children are in critical condition, the AP reported.

A 17-year-old man from the nearby town of Banks has been arrested on suspicion of the attack. Police said he acted alone and the attack was not being treated as terrorism-related.

The bloody attack on the children has shocked people across Britain. Hundreds of people attended a vigil outside the Atkinson arts centre in Southport on Tuesday night, many in tears. But the peaceful protest was followed by a protest by far-right supporters outside a local mosque, which quickly turned violent and involved clashes with police.

The riots, which police said were believed to have involved supporters of the English Defence League, began just a few streets away from the site of the vigil, near the St Luke's Mosque in Southport. Police said the riots involved many people “who do not live in the Merseyside area or care about the people of Merseyside”. Southport is in the county of Merseyside. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the rioters in Southport would “feel the full force of the law”.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said a flood of disinformation about the Southport attack had been spread across multiple social media platforms by far-right activists, fake news sites and conspiracy theorists. She urged the public to avoid “unhelpful” speculation about the attack and said social media companies must take “some responsibility” for the content they publish.

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