Australians injured as American woman is mass stabbed and killed in Central London

London: An American woman was murdered and two Australians were among those injured in a mass stabbing attack in central London, which police believe was carried out by a young man with suspected mental health issues.

Scotland Yard confirmed an Australian man and woman were among the victims, but it was unclear if they were related or a couple. The woman suffered a knife wound to her back and the man suffered a wound to his chest. Both were discharged from hospital on Thursday.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said a third Australian, a woman, was at the scene of the attack but unhurt.

The other victims injured in the attack had a range of different nationalities, with victims from America, Israel and Britain also involved. The American woman, believed to be aged in her 60s, was treated at the scene but died a short time later.

A 19-year-old Norwegian man of Somali origin was arrested and interviewed after initially being taken to hospital for treatment.

Police raided the man's house in north London and plan to search another address in south London. Investigators have all but ruled out terrorism as a factor and said they were exploring mental health issues as a motivating factor instead.


Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley told reporters police believed the attack was "spontaneous" and the victims "selected at random".

"So far we have found no evidence of radicalisation or anything that would suggest the man in our custody was motivated by terrorism," he said.

"Whilst the investigation is not yet complete, all of the work that we have done so far increasingly points to this tragic incident as having been triggered by mental health issues," he said.

The stabbing took place near the British Museum between Russell Square, Montague Street, Bloomsbury Square and Great Russell Street. Police were called at 10.30pm and say they were at the scene within six minutes. They tasered the suspect and said at no point were any shots fired.

Assistant Commissioner Rowley praised police and said it was a testament to the British philosophy of using minimum force.

"Our firearms officers bravely rushed to that scene with very little information.

"They would not have known if this was an act of terrorism or the random attack we now know it be.

"We should be proud of them and the British tradition of using the minimum necessary force," he said.

The attack came on the same day UK Police announced they would be deploying 600 extra armed officers to man the streets of central London in the wake of the sporadic terror attacks across Europe, with police warning a similar attack in the British capital was all but inevitable.

The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan issued a statement and said the safety of Londoners was his "number one priority."

"I urge all Londoners to remain calm and vigilant. Please report anything suspicious to the police‎. We all have a vital role to play as eyes and ears for our police and security services and in helping to ensure London is protected," he said.