Emergency services have transported at least eight people to hospitals after an assailant stabbed them during a “major” incident in Southport, United Kingdom.

Officers responded to the scene shortly before noon after reports of a stabbing, according to a statement from local police. “There are a number of reported casualties and more details will be confirmed when possible,” the statement read.

“Armed police have detained a male and seized a knife. He has been taken to a police station,” the police added.

One of the victims has died. The rest are still receiving medical treatment. The stabbing reportedly occurred at a Taylor Swift-themed event.

Armed police have swamped an area after a number of people were injured and one has died in a reported stabbing while a Taylor Swift workshop was taking place. Emergency services were called to a property in Hart Street, Southport, at about 11.50am on Monday, July 29, and at least eight people have been taken to hospital with what have been described as "stab injuries" while it is understood at least one person has died.

There are reports that one person, believed to be a child, has died with more than 10 people believed to include adults and children injured after a man entered a property. The local ambulance trust has confirmed that some of the casualties have been taken to Alder Hey Children's Hospital. Merseyside Police said it had received reports of a stabbing and has confirmed there are a "number of reported casualties".

A parent who wished to remain anonymous told reporters that his daughter was “traumatized” by the assault. “My daughter was in it and she was traumatized. She ran away and she’s safe,” he said.

Another witness who contacted the authorities about the incident described the scene.

Local business owner Colin Parry was one of the people who called the police, said the incident in Southport was like a “scene in a horror movie,” according to PA Media.

Parry said he believed a number of young girls had been stabbed. “The mothers are coming here now and screaming. It is like a scene from a horror movie,” Parry said, adding that, “police have got him.”

The businessman said he had directed police to an address in Hart Street behind the Hart Space studios, where one of the events listed at the time of the stabbings was a

Taylor Swift-themed yoga class for children ages six to 11, according to its website

“It’s like something from America, not like sunny Southport,” Parry said.

The Alder Hey Children’s Hospital Trust in Liverpool, about 20 miles from Southport, declared a “major incident.

“The Trust is working with other emergency services to respond to this incident and our Emergency Department is currently extremely busy,” the hospital said in a statement posted to its website. “We ask parents to only bring their children to the Emergency Department if it is urgent,” it said.

Bare Varathan, a business owner on the street where the stabbing occurred, told reporters he saw a number of bleeding children fleeing the building where the event was taking place.

“They had been stabbed here, here, here, everywhere,” he said, explaining that they had been wounded in the head, chest, and neck. “They were all aged about 10. One of them was really seriously injured.”