Three men have died in a stabbing in east London.

Police said they were called at about 19:40 GMT on Sunday to reports of a disturbance in Elmstead Road in Seven Kings, Ilford.

Three men, aged in their 20s or 30s, who were involved in a fight, were found by emergency services with stab injuries, the Metropolitan Police said. All three were pronounced dead at the scene. Two men, aged 29 and 39, have been arrested on suspicion of murder.

Ch Supt Steve Clayman said a fight had broken out between two groups who were armed with knives, leaving three men fatally stabbed. “We can now say that two arrests have since been made, so there has been progress.

“The parties are believed to be known to each other and the group are within the Sikh community,” he added.

Sabih Qureshi, who lives in the area, said he had seen seven or eight men “fighting each other” in the same place on Saturday, which he believed was “linked for sure”. He said: “They were saying ‘I will kill you’, and the person was saying ‘ok kill me’. For sure it was linked.”

After seeing the three “badly injured” men following the attack, Mr Qureshi said he and several others tried to help and give them CPR.

The Ilford resident added that one of the men was already dead, while the other two were “not conscious” but breathing “just a little”. “It was very violent. All the blood was in the street,” he said.

Formal identification of the victims is yet to take place.

The stabbings bring the number of homicide investigations launched by the Met in 2020 to six. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan tweeted: “My thoughts are with their families and the local community at this dreadful time.” He said extra police enforcement powers had been authorised for the whole of Redbridge borough until 08:00 on Monday.
A forensic examination of the scene is under way and will continue on Monday, police said.

Jas Athwal, leader of Redbridge Council, said: “An incident like this is unheard of within the Sikh community here in Redbridge. “I think tragically there are at least three families who are going to be in mourning and this is going to last a lifetime for the people left behind.”

He was critical of bloody footage shared on social media appearing to show the aftermath of the killings. “I think the first response should be ‘What can we do to help?’. To put it on social media is not right.”