A nine-year-old girl is the third child to die in a knife attack during a Taylor Swift dance class in the UK.

The girl’s death followed two other girls, aged six and seven, in the attack in northwest England on Monday.

A 17-year-old boy remains in custody following the incident in Southport and is charged with murder or attempted murder.

Eight other children suffered stab wounds and five of them are in critical condition. In addition, two adults were seriously injured, police said.

Taylor Swift said she was “in complete shock” and was still processing “the horror” of the event.

“They were just little kids at dance class,” she wrote on Instagram. “I don’t know how I can ever express my condolences to these families.”

Locals laid flowers and stuffed animals as a sign of their appreciation at a police cordon on the brick-lined street of the seaside resort near Liverpool – known as “sunny Southport” – whose beach and pier attract holidaymakers from across northwest England.

Witnesses described scenes “like in a horror film” as blood-soaked children ran away from the attack shortly before noon on Monday.

The suspect was arrested soon after on charges of murder and attempted murder. Police said he was born in Cardiff, Wales, and had lived for years in a village about 5km from Southport. No charges have yet been brought against him.

Police said investigators do not consider Monday’s attack to be terrorist-related and are not looking for other suspects.

“We believe the injured adults were bravely trying to protect the children who were attacked,” said Merseyside Police Commissioner Serena Kennedy.

It is the latest shocking attack in a country where a recent rise in knife crime has stoked fears and led to calls for the Government to take stronger action against knife weapons.

Witnesses reported hearing screams and seeing blood-soaked children coming out of Hart Space, a community center that hosts everything from pregnancy workshops and meditation sessions to boot camps for women.

The attack occurred during a yoga and dance workshop for children aged approximately six to eleven.

“They were on the street, running out of the nursery,” said Bare Varathan, who owns a shop nearby. “They had been stabbed, here, here, here, everywhere,” he said, pointing to the neck, back and chest.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the attack as “appalling and deeply shocking”.

King Charles expressed his “condolences, prayers and deepest sympathy” to those affected by this “absolutely horrific incident”.

Prince William and his wife Catherine said: “As parents, we cannot even begin to imagine what the families, friends and loved ones of those killed or injured in Southport today must be going through.”

Colin Parry, owner of a nearby car repair shop, told The Guardian that the suspect arrived by taxi.

“He came down our driveway in a taxi and didn’t pay for the taxi, so I confronted him,” Parry was quoted as saying. “He was quite aggressive and said, ‘What are you going to do about it?'”

Parry said most of the victims appeared to be young girls.

“The mothers come here now and scream,” said Parry. “It’s like a scene from a horror movie… It’s like something from America, not like sunny Southport.”

The worst attack on children in Britain occurred in 1996, when 43-year-old Thomas Hamilton shot dead 16 kindergarten children and their teacher in a school gym in Dunblane, Scotland.

Subsequently, Great Britain banned the private ownership of almost all handguns.

Mass shootings and killings with firearms are rare in the UK; in the year to March 2023, knives were used in around 40 percent of homicides.

With PA