Police appeal for information after boy, 14, fatally stabbed on London bus

A 14-year-old boy was stabbed to death on a bus in Woolwich, south-east London, in the middle of the afternoon yesterday.

- Matthew Weaver, Sammy Gecsoyler

Paramedics treated the teenager at the scene but he died shortly after they arrived, the Metropolitan police said. Schools in the area had returned on Monday after the Christmas break.

Ch Supt Louise Sargent, who is responsible for policing in Lewisham, said police were called to the scene - a route 472 bus on Woolwich Church Road near the junction with the A205 - just before 2.30pm.

The alert had been raised by a local officer on patrol, she said.

The London ambulance service and the London air ambulance were also called to the incident but despite receiving treatment from paramedics the boy died.

"Our thoughts at this time are with the victim's family and friends," Sargent said. "This is a horrendous crime and I can't imagine what they must be going through right now."