Armed police surrounded a hotel in the centre of Manchester after a woman was attacked and seriously injured inside.
Police officers were flagged down outside the Hilton Manchester Deansgate at about 11.10am today by a woman with lacerations to her neck, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said.
Four men, a woman and a teenage girl have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and are in custody. Two of the men are 26; the others 20 and 24. The woman is 20 and the girl 17.
Investigators do not believe the attack was carried out randomly.
“Scenes are now in place in one of the hotel rooms and outside the hotel itself,” the force said.
A GMP spokesman said the attack was not thought to be terror-related.
Anthony Hilton, who works in a nearby letting agents, said the victim had been taken away in an ambulance.
“One of our colleagues walked past and saw a lady on the floor with what appeared to be her throat slit,” said Mr Hilton, 32, from Manchester.
He described the woman as well dressed and in her thirties but could not comment on her condition as she was taken away.
“There must have been 15 undercover and normal police cars out in the street.
“Police were running to and fro from the car park and the Hilton Hotel,” he added.
Images showed a heavy policy response with more than half a dozen marked vehicles parked outside the Hilton.
A North West Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: “We were called to the scene at 11.12am today. We sent an ambulance and a rapid response car. We’ve taken a patient to hospital.”
Police cordons are in place outside Beetham Tower, where the hotel is based in central Manchester.
A section of pavement opposite the hotel outside the 340 Deansgate office building has also been blocked off.
Three marked police vehicles are stationed outside the front of the hotel.
A man in handcuffs was led out of the hotel by officers and put into a police van which was driven away. An oxygen mask and other medical equipment could be seen behind a police cordon on the opposite side of the road to the hotel.
The residential portion of Beetham Tower has been popular with footballers, with Phil Neville, formerly of Everton and Manchester United, having owned a high-end apartment there.
GMP said anyone with information about the assault should call 101 and quote reference 726 of today’s date, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Additional reporting by PA
