Eight people were stabbed during the two-dayNotting Hill Carnival, the largeststreet festivalin Europe, with a 32-year-old woman sustaining "life-threatening" injuries, according to London's Metropolitan Police Service (Met).The Metropolitan Police in London provided an update on their policing efforts late Monday evening, revealing that five individuals were stabbed during the last day of the renowned three-day festival celebrating BritishAfro-Caribbean cultureand identity.This incident followed three separatestabbingsthat occurred on Sunday. Among the victims of theviolencethat took place over the extended weekend, three were reported to be in a life-threatening condition, according to the police force.Over 230 arrests, including 37 individuals for assaulting emergency workers, 49 for possessing offensive weapons, and 8 for sexual offenses as of 10.45 PM Monday (local time) were made, said the London Metro police in statement. Hundreds of firearms were also recovered by security officials amid the festivities. Thirty-Five police officers were also reported injured during the festival.The carnival, an annual celebration of Afro-Caribbean culture, took place in the streets of west London's Notting Hill neighborhood and reportedly attracted over 1 million attendees. To ensure safety, 7,000 police officers were deployed for the event, which started on Sunday and concluded the day after.Claudia Jones, a Trinidadian activist, laid the foundation for the event by organizing a Caribbean carnival at St Pancras Town Hall in London in 1959. This event was a response to the racial tensions and riots that had taken place during that time.Participants in this year's carnival, particularly on the second day emphasized the increased relevance of Jones' message of unity in the wake of the late July racist riots,fueled by the spread of misinformation online regarding the suspected perpetrator of a knife attack that claimed the lives of three young girls in Southport, located in northwest England.Matthew Phillip, the Notting Hill carnival's chief executive, told Reuters the event was Britain's biggest celebration of inclusion - "of the things we have in common, rather than focusing on our differences".
