Two teenagers stabbed to death within hours in London

Two teenagers have been fatally stabbed within hours of each other as violence continues across London.

A 15-year-old boy was stabbed to death outside a busy shopping centre in Stratford, east London, shortly after 3pm on Thursday.

Five hours later, officers were called to the Brandon Estate in Camberwell, south London, where they found an 18-year-old man with stab wounds.

He died an hour later, the Metropolitan Police said.

Police and witnesses to the Stratford stabbing said the boy's friends and passers-by rushed to help after he was knifed outside a McDonald's at the Stratford Centre.

One witness described the scene to the PA news agency.

They said: "At that moment there were not many people around him so I could see him all covered in blood. He was in pain and tried getting up.

"There were people around gathering. It was scary as you did not know if any of them could have had a knife too."

One stall worker told PA he saw paramedics trying to perform first aid to a "young guy".

"I saw police around here and one person was on the floor, I think they stabbed him," he said.

"It was a young guy. He was a black guy on the floor. I think the ambulance guys tried to give him first aid."

A second boy, aged 15, was also found with stab injuries was taken to an east London hospital, where his injuries are said to be not life-threatening.

Police called the incident a "senseless attack" and have appealed for witnesses to come forward.

Detective Chief Inspector Chris Soole, who is leading the investigation said: "First and foremost our thoughts are with this young man's family and friends.

"They so tragically are having to come to terms with this terrible loss of life.

"The victim of this stabbing was a schoolboy with his whole life ahead of him. He had everything to live for."

No arrests have been made in the either the Camberwell or Stratford investigations, police said.