They were killed by a hooded male who stormed the holiday activity group in Southport, leaving eight other children wounded five of them in a critical condition - and two adults fighting for life.
But with police last night still quizzing a 17-year-old suspect arrested over the ferocious knife attack there appeared to be no obvious motive.
Bebe King, aged just six, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, all died despite heroic efforts by emergency crews at the traumatic, bloody scene on Merseyside that was described as resembling a "horror movie".
Eleven people including critically wounded dance teachers Leanne Lucas and Heidi Barlow, both 35, were rushed to three hospitals. Alice's distraught parents paid a heartfelt tribute to their "Princess" telling her to "keep smiling and dancing".
The girls were stabbed at a Taylor Swiftthemed dance workshop and yesterday the US singer gave her emotional response to the attack. Swift, 34, wrote on Instagram: "These were just little kids at a dance class. I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families."
Bebe's shattered family said: "No words can describe the devastation that has hit our family as we try to deal with the loss of our little girl."
In their tearful tribute to Alice, Madeira-born mum Alexandra and her dad David wrote: "Keep smiling and dancing like you love to do our Princess, like we said before to you, you're always our princess and no one would change that. Love from Your Hero Daddy and Mummy."
Alice's aunt Carina Aguiar added: "Princess Alice, in this moment of such pain it hurts the soul, it hurts the body, it hurts the mind. A lump in the throat you were just an innocent child, a happy girl smiling who had a bright life ahead of her."
As local residents flocked to the scene yesterday to lay flowers and hold a vigil, Keon Tysoe, 50, summed up the mood, saying: "Why? We need that answered.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der July 31, 2024-Ausgabe von Daily Express.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der July 31, 2024-Ausgabe von Daily Express.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
Spurs find their spark in second-half revival
VILLA GO UP IN SMOKE
Herbie puts aside personal pain to power past Samoa
HERBIE FARNWORTH put family heartache behind him to destroy Samoa - and then took aim at Australia.
£1m cable theft gang left BT users with no service
A GANG which stole nearly £1million of broadband cable and cut off communications for thousands, have been jailed for a total of 14 years.
Grieving dad demands lifetime ban for killer drink drivers
A HEARTBROKEN dad used an appearance on TV's Question Time to campaign for life bans for drink drivers who cause fatal crashes.
Harris surging in bellwether state as women shun her rival
KAMALA Harris is leading in Iowa where Donald Trump had held a huge lead and comfortably won in 2016 and 2020, a shock poll suggests.
Fans rally to aid Trump's dream
THOUSANDS of Donald Trump supporters paraded their patriotism for one of the former US President's final weekend election campaign rallies.
John Stapleton on Parkinson's...You learn to live with it
VETERAN TV journalist John Stapleton is philosophical about living with Parkinson's disease, saying: \"You can't escape these things as you grow older.\"
'I will keep on trying to end domestic abuse'
Camilla's pledge in landmark ITV film
Flood crowds throw mud at royal couple
ANGRY crowds heckled the King and Queen of Spain and pelted them with mud on a visit to a town devastated by floods.
'We ask for change to give us the choice, not to shorten our lives but to shorten our death'
LAWMAKERS have a once-in-adecade opportunity to change Britain's cruel and inhumane assisted dying laws, Dame Esther Rantzen says.