A teenager has died after being stabbed on an east London street, becoming the third person in the capital to be knifed to death in just three days.
The 18-year-old man was killed in Forest Gate, a short walk from the street where a 14-year-old boy was shot dead in September. No arrests have been made in either case.
Police, paramedics and London’s Air Ambulance were called to Chestnut Avenue at about 10.50pm on Monday. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene around 40 minutes later.
He is thought to be the twelfth teenager killed by knife or gun crime in the capital in 2018.
Scotland Yard launched a murder probe and appealed for witnesses. No arrests have been made.
Detective Inspector John Marriott said: "We are at the early stages of the investigation, but are keen to hear from anyone who may have been in the area last night and may have seen or heard anything.
"It doesn’t matter how big or small you think your information may be; it could be the piece of the puzzle that helps bring the person that killed a young man to justice."
The teenager's next of kin have been informed but he has not yet been formally identified.
Nearly 60 murder investigations have been launched by London's Metropolitan Police this year.
Among them are two domestic stabbings within 40 minutes of each other in Colindale, north London, and Brixton, south London, on Sunday evening.
They followed the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Tanesha Melbourne-Blake, who was gunned down in a drive-by killing on a residential street in Tottenham, north London, on Easter Monday.
On the same evening, Amaan Shakoor, 16, became the youngest murder victim of the year when he was shot in an attack in Walthamstow, north-east London.
A recent nationwide increase in violent crime, combined with record low numbers of police officers, has sparked calls for increased funding for prevention work and policing.
Police have appealed for witnesses to the stabbing to call 101, quoting CAD 8332/apr16.
