‘Major incident’ reported in England’s Birmingham: AFP

British police declared a “major incident” after multiple people were stabbed in the center of England’s second city Birmingham. AFP reported.

Footage aired on TV news channels in Britain showed large areas of the city center cordoned off as police officers wearing forensic suits worked at the scene, the news agency added.

“We can confirm that at approximately 12:30am today (Sunday Sept. 6) we were called to reports of a stabbing in Birmingham city center,” West Midlands Police said in a statement, cited by the AFP news agency.

“A number of other stabbings” were reported in the area shortly after and “this has been declared a major incident”, the statement added.

“We are aware of a number of injured people, but at the moment we are not in a position to say how many or how serious.

“However, all emergency services are working together at the scene, and making sure that those who are injured receive medical care.”

According to AFP, West Midlands Police said: “Work is still going on to establish what has happened, and could take some time before we are in a position to confirm anything.”

Police said: At this early stage it would not be appropriate to speculate on the causes of the incident.”