Violence, looting in Dublin after children stabbed outside school

New Delhi: Protesters on Thursday clashed with police, torched vehicles and looted shops in Dublin, after three young children were injured in a knife attack outside a school. Police in riot gear stood guard on the streets in the Irish capital as crowds taunted them with chants and set off fireworks.

Flames rose from a torched car and bus near O’Connell Bridge, over the River Liffey, while crowds broke into stores and looted one of the city’s main shopping streets, AFP reported.

The unrest, Dublin’s worst in years, came after a five-year-old girl sustained serious injuries in a suspected stabbing in Parnell Square East, north central Dublin. Two other children and two adults, a woman and the suspected perpetrator of the attack were taken to hospital after the incident.

Justice Minister Helen McEntee said the scenes in the city centre, including attacks on police, “cannot and will not be tolerated” and promised to take action.

“A thuggish and manipulative element must not be allowed to use an appalling tragedy to wreak havoc,” she said, calling for calm.

Thursday’s incident, which police said was not thought to be terror-related, involved a man armed with a knife stabbing victims outside the school, according to media and eyewitnesses.