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Police have confirmed the identities of the three girls killed in a stabbing at a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga workshop in north-west England that shocked the country and the singer herself.
On Tuesday (early Wednesday AEST), two adults and five children were still fighting for life and another three children remained in hospital in a less critical condition after the attack at Southport, north of Liverpool, on Monday.
Bebe King, six; Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven; and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, nine, were all dead, Merseyside Police said.
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Swift said she was "completely in shock" and still taking in "the horror" of the event.
"These were just little kids at a dance class," she wrote on Instagram on Tuesday.
"I am at a complete loss for how to ever convey my sympathies to these families."
Merseyside Police were questioning a 17-year-old suspect arrested on suspicion of attempted murder on Tuesday and working to understand what might have motivated him to attack the children at the start of the UK's summer school holidays.
"No words can describe the devastation that has hit our family as try to deal with the loss of our little girl Bebe," Bebe's family said, in a tribute released by Merseyside Police.
Alice's family also paid tribute to their "princess".
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"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," they said.
"Love from Your Hero Daddy and Mummy."
An online fundraiser was separately set up in her memory.
Portuguese Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities José Cesario Alice's parents were Portuguese, from a family originally from the Atlantic island of Madeira.
The country's consul-general in Manchester was following the situation and had spoken to the family to offer condolences on behalf of the Portuguese state, he said.
Carina Aguiar, a family member from Madeira, said the passing of "Princess Alice" hurt the soul body and mind.
"You were just an innocent child," he said.
"A happy, smiley girl that had a bright life ahead.
"Which a despicable being took away from you, without pity or mercy, without any reason".
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The local church parish also offered its blessings, asking parishioners to pray that "Alice can now be a light in the immense light of heaven".
"Pray for her parents, relatives and friends," the Quinte Grande parish said on Facebook.
"Pray that she can be "guardian angel" of all the remaining here.
"Let Alice continue her dance in heaven. Rest in peace."
According to the GoFundMe started in her name, one of Alice's parents worked at Benridge Care Homes and Good Companions in Southport.
"We at Benridge Care Homes and Good Companions, have been completely stunned by the tragic loss of Alice, following the horrific events that took place in Southport yesterday," the fundraiser said.
"We can't even begin to imagine how the family feel."
Local people left flowers and stuffed animals in tribute at a police cordon on the street lined with brick houses in the seaside resort nicknamed "sunny Southport", whose beach and pier attract vacationers from across north-west England.
Witnesses described scenes "from a horror movie" as bloodied children ran from the attack just before noon on Monday.
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The suspect was arrested soon after on suspicion of murder and attempted murder. Police said he was born in Cardiff, Wales, and had lived for years in a village about five kilometres from Southport. He has not yet been charged.
Police said detectives were not treating it as terror-related and were not looking for any other suspects.
"We believe the adults who were injured were bravely trying to protect the children who were being attacked," Merseyside Police Chief Constable Serena Kennedy said.
Witnesses described hearing screams and seeing children covered in blood emerging from the Hart Space, a community centre that hosts everything from pregnancy workshops and meditation sessions to women's boot camps.
The attack happened during a Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance workshop for children aged about 6 to 11.
"They were in the road, running from the nursery," said Bare Varathan, who owns a shop nearby.
"They had been stabbed, here, here, here, everywhere," he said, indicating the neck, back and chest.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the attack "horrendous and deeply shocking". King Charles III sent his "condolences, prayers and deepest sympathies" to those affected by the "utterly horrific incident".
Prince William and his wife Catherine said that "as parents, we cannot begin to imagine what the families, friends and loved ones of those killed and injured in Southport today are going through".
Colin Parry, who owns a nearby auto body shop, told The Guardian that the suspect arrived by taxi.
"He came down our driveway in a taxi and didn't pay for the taxi, so I confronted him at that point," Parry was quoted as saying.
"He was quite aggressive, he said, 'What are you gonna do about it?'"
Parry said most of the victims appeared to be young girls.
"The mothers are coming here now and screaming," Parry said. "It is like a scene from a horror movie. … It's like something from America, not like sunny Southport."
Mass shootings and killings with firearms are rare in Britain, where knives were used in about 40 per cent of homicides in the year to March 2023.
– Reported with Associated Press
