Two women injured in Belfast stabbing

A man has been arrested in Belfast in connection with a knife attack on two women in the city centre last night.

The two women, aged 33 and 28, were walking in the city at about 1.20 a.m. when a man lunged at them from an alleyway.

He stabbed one of the women in the back before turning on her companion and stabbing her 13 times. He then escaped along High Street.

A Police Service spokeswoman said a 28-year-old man was arrested shortly afterwards on suspicion of attempted murder. He was found with a knife and blood on his hands near the River Lagan.

The spokesman said the man allegedly sexually assaulted one of the women in a bar earlier.

The two women are recovering in hospital.