LONDON: A woman was arrested after four men were stabbed on Wednesday in Covent Garden, a busy central London area popular with tourists, in a suspected “mental health related incident”, police said.

The 47-year-old woman was detained on suspicion of possessing an offensive weapon and assault following the stabbings shortly before 12:30pm local time (1130 GMT), according to London’s Metropolitan Police.

She remained in custody Wednesday afternoon, it said, noting officers had seized a pair of scissors at the scene.

The four victims — aged 34, 39, 42, and 52 — were taken to hospital where two remained with injuries not “believed to be life-threatening or life changing,” the force added. The two other men attacked we­­­­­re discharged within hours.

“While still at an early stage of the investigation, we would like to reassure the community that we currently believe this to be an isolated mental health related incident,” Met Chief Superintendent Jason Stewart said in a brief statement.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2026