By TIME Staff
Riot police had to be called to a suburb of southeast London Monday after around 100 schoolchildren took part in a brawl involving knives, sticks, bats and concrete slabs.
The Telegraph reports that police dogs and a helicopter were deployed to contain the children — many in school uniform and some as young as seven — who conducted a running melee on the streets of Bexley.
“It’s a miracle nobody was killed,” a local bar owner told the Telegraph.
The standoff reportedly lasted for two hours. Seven youths were arrested and two taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Locals believe the clash was race and gang motivated. However, local police said they were still trying to establish the facts.
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