Jersey stabbings: Six die in knife attack
Some in the police force have been left shaken by the multiple deaths
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Six people, including three children, have been killed in a knife attack on the usually peaceful island of Jersey.
Police say a man, two women and the children were attacked at a flat in a secluded part of the capital, St Helier, on Sunday afternoon.
A 30-year-old man, who had emergency surgery after the attack, has been arrested in connection with the deaths.
Police have not named the dead but say they lived in Jersey. Witnesses believe they were all related.
Officers were called to Upper Midvale Road at 15:00 BST on Sunday after reports of an incident at a flat in Victoria Crescent, which spilled outside onto the street.
Forensic officers have been examining the scene as police interview a number of witnesses to try to identify the victims.
Meanwhile, they are holding the suspect in police custody at Jersey General Hospital where he is recovering from surgery.
'Complex investigation'
States of Jersey Police head of crime services Stewart Gull, who is leading the inquiry, said: "Clearly this complex investigation is in its very early stages as we try to establish exactly what happened.
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"We are mindful, too, of the impact of any such serious and tragic incident on the local community, and we have police officers in the area to support the investigation and local people."
Mr Gull, who led the inquiry into the murder of five Ipswich women in 2006, admitted he was shaken by the Jersey incident and said it had been "pretty traumatic" for emergency services staff called to the scene.
"Dealing with multiple deaths of men, women and particularly young children, it has shaken the force but the officers who initially responded were tremendously professional," he said.
"Jersey is an incredibly safe island, probably one of the safest places in the western world. Incidents of this nature are an extremely rare occurrence."
He added that he was unable to confirm the victims' nationalities, speculate as to their relationship with each other or give the ages of the children.
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A major incident room has been set up and police are appealing for anyone with information to contact them.
Some residents were unable to return to their homes while the crime scene was cordoned off.
Authorities, however, opened the town hall and a residential home to give them somewhere to stay.
Witness Andre Thorpe said he thought all the victims were members of the same family.
"For Jersey it was a major incident," he said.
Continue reading the main story Jersey fact file Jersey - part of the Channel Islands - has a population of about 91,000, most of whom are native islanders of Norman French and British extraction. EU citizens, including a prominent community from Portugal, also live there.
As Crown Dependencies the islands are not part of the UK or EU, nor are they colonies or overseas territories of the UK like Gibraltar
The Crown is responsible for defence, diplomatic representation and citizenship, while the islands maintain control over housing and employment
The economy is dominated by financial services, tourism, electronic commerce and agriculture
The relatively light tax burden has encouraged a booming offshore finance sector
Two ambulances turned up first because it was within a quarter of mile of the ambulance station. Then four or five police vehicles came, all blues and twos.
"They were trying to access a private house in the crescent. It was an old Victorian terrace, a lot of them are split into flats."
Mr Thorpe added that the area where the incident happened was quite secluded.
"I was first aware something was happening when I saw people looking out for the ambulances as I walked up the road," he said.
The BBC's Edward Sault spoke to a neighbour, who said he saw police attempting to resuscitate someone on the pavement outside the house.
Another unnamed neighbour reported hearing children screaming.
"It was not like a playful scream - they were really screaming," he said.
Jersey General Hospital's emergency department was temporarily closed to all non-urgent cases as staff treated the victims.
Angela Body, director of operations at the hospital, thanked staff for coming in on their days off to help.
She said: "The teamwork spanned across many service areas including the ambulance, medical, nursing and support staff who all helped with a serious and unusual situation.
"As ever, staff worked quickly and in a professional way to help those who were brought in for treatment and care."
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Six people have died as the result of a knife-related attack in , located within the Channel Islands. Among those killed are three children, two women and one man. The victims have remained unidentified but were all Jersey residents.

In the aftermath of a multiple-stabbing scenario at Upper Midvale Road, police were informed of events at approximately 1500  (1400 ) today. At , a man has been detained under police custody and will remain in the hospital until he recovers from surgery. A murder investigation has now been commenced. As it stands, police are not looking for any other individual in relation to the events.

Speaking of behalf of , Detective Superintendent Stewart Gull explained, "This complex investigation is in its very early stages as we try to establish exactly what happened," and that the police force is aware "of the impact of any such serious and tragic incident on the local community, and we have police officers in the area to support the investigation and local people." Gull additionally said that "dealing with multiple deaths of men, women and particularly young children" unsettled members of the emergency services, but they nevertheless remained "tremendously professional". Gull described Jersey as an "incredibly safe island, probably one of the safest places in the Western world," where events such as these are "extremely rare".

Numerous witnesses have contacted the police in relation to the incident and are now being interviewed. Police, who are attempting to identify the dead, are currently at the scene alongside forensic investigators and detectives.