A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a stabbing inside a central London mosque.
The victim, who is in his 70s, was found seriously injured after emergency services were called to the London Central Mosque in Park Road, near Regent’s Park, at 15:10 GMT.
He was taken to hospital by paramedics where his condition has been assessed as non-life threatening.
The Met Police said the attack is not being treated as terror related.
In a statement, the mosque said the injured man was the muazzin, the person who makes the call to prayer, and he had been stabbed during Asr Prayer.
Worshippers had apprehended the attacker before police arrived, the statement added.
Images from inside the mosque showed a white man wearing a red hooded top, jeans and with bare feet being pinned to the floor by police officers.
One video showed a knife on the floor under a plastic chair.
Abi Watik, who witnessed the attack, said the arrested man had been a regular at the mosque for several months and the muazzin was stabbed once in the shoulder.
“He was praying behind him [the muazzin] and then he stabbed him”. The 59-year-old added that the suspect “was silent the whole time”.
The London Ambulance Service said the injured man has been taken to a major trauma centre.
The service tweeted: “We sent an ambulance crew, a paramedic in a car and an advanced paramedic practitioner to this incident in Regent’s Park.
“We treated a man at the scene and took him to a major trauma centre.”
Miqdaad Versi, from the Muslim Council of Britain, said he had been told by people inside the mosque that the attack took place while preparations were being made for afternoon prayers.
“It is deeply concerning that this has happened… Given other recent attacks elsewhere many Muslims are on edge,” he said.
Prime minister Boris Johnson tweeted that he was “deeply saddened” by the stabbing and his “thoughts are with the victim and all those affected”.
Source: BBC
