A young man was today fighting for life in hospital after being ambushed on a busy east London high street by a knife-wielding gang.
The 20-year-old male victim was walking in Forest Road, Walthamstow, with his 19-year-old girlfriend when a car pulled alongside and three men launched the horrific attack at 4.30pm yesterday.
Witnesses said the teenage girl was whipped around the head with a belt buckle by the trio who then stabbed her boyfriend in the chest and stomach with a “large” kitchen knife.
The pair were taken to hospital where the young man’s injuries were today said to be life-threatening.
Two of the attackers were said by witnesses to have been injured before making their getaway. They later took themselves to hospital for treatment.
Police called to the scene, outside a Tesco Express near the junction with Pembar Avenue, cordoned off a quarter-mile stretch of the road and parts of neighbouring Essex Close.
Vehicles and pedestrians were diverted as forensic officers carried out a fingertip search of the area.
John Watson, 48, who owns a building and double-glazing firm on Forest Road, said one of his workers witnessed the attack.
He said: “He was sitting in the workshop when he heard a commotion from outside, screaming and shouting. He saw three men attacking another guy.
“One of them also got stabbed and staggered across the street towards the workshop, shouting that he had been stabbed and to call an ambulance. There was blood on both sides of the street.”
A worker at a nearby shop said: “The girl was hit in the face with a big belt and then the others stabbed the boy and ran off. The lad with the big knife got hurt as well.”
A Met spokesman said no arrests had been made and inquiries continue.
The attack followed a weekend of violence in the capital in which four people - including a 17-year-old student from Enfield - were killed in the space of 48 hours leading to renewed calls from medics for young people to put down their knives.
