A teenager staggered into the doorway of a newsagent crying “water, water” after being stabbed at least five times on a busy shopping street.
The 19-year-old slumped on the pavement outside the Express Food Centre in Leytonstone High Road in east London at 3.30pm yesterday.
Paramedics gave him emergency treatment before he was taken to hospital in a critical condition.
Dramatic video footage shows the bare-chested boy wailing in agony as a friend presses a T-shirt to the wounds in his side as schoolchildren look on.
A witness, who asked not to be named, said: “He was coming inside and was asking for water and then after about 10 seconds he just collapsed in front of the door. He had been stabbed five or six times.”
Surrounding roads were closed for several hours as police launched a manhunt for the attackers. A Scotland Yard spokesman said officers from the Trident unit were investigating. There have been no arrests. He said: “The 19-year-old victim was taken to an east London hospital where his condition is described as serious but stable.”
Anyone with information is asked to call Waltham Forest CID on 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
