London, Sep 6 (IANS): Several people were stabbed in the UK city of Birmingham as police have declared it a "major incident".

West Midlands Police said they were called to reports of a stabbing at around 00:30 BST on Sunday. Other stabbings were reported shortly afterwards. Police said there were "a number of injured people" and asked people to stay away from the area.

Witness Cara, working in the Arcadian Centre, told the BBC she saw "multiple people having fistfights".

A "major incident" describes any situation involving serious harm or security risk to the public. It also means special arrangements are in place for all of the emergency services to work together. 'Shell-shocked' Cara, a club promoter, said it had been busier during the evening than it had been at any time since the start of lockdown.

She said she had finished her shift at about 00:30 BST and was drinking with colleagues when she heard a "loud bang and quite a lot of commotion". She added: "I found multiple people having fistfights... people from inside pubs and clubs came out and started to see what was going on. "There were females, males, old people, young people, such a mix of people, it didn't seem real at the time.

"Working on the club scene for over two years, I've always seen quite a lot of fights but it was nothing like tonight. The body language and demeanour was quite different. "The number of things that I've heard has happened tonight in the space of three hours, with the stabbings that have happened, the car crashes and multiple other things it's such a huge shock to me.