A 17-year-old perpetrator attacked several children with a knife in Southport, England.
Bebe, 6, Elsie, 7, and Alice, 9, died from their injuries.
“There are no words,” Bebe’s family said in a statement.
Police in Merseyside have now named the three girls who were killed when a 17-year-old assailant attacked what was described as a Taylor Swift-themed dance class on Monday with a knife.
They are six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Alice Dasilva Aguiar.
“Their families are being supported by the police, and they ask the public to respect their privacy at this time,” the police write in a press release.
“Keep smiling and dancing”
The family of Bebe King writes the following in a statement:
“There are no words to describe how devastated we are to have to deal with the loss of our little girl.”
The family of Alice Dasilva Aguilar writes:
“Keep smiling and dancing as you love to do, our little princess. You will always be our princess and no one can change that. We love you.”
Saved several children
The stabbing occurred in the English town of Southport, just outside Liverpool in northwest England.
Eight other children were injured in the attack, and five of them are being treated for life-threatening injuries.
Two more adults are also being treated in hospital in a critical condition, and one of them, according to British media, is a 35-year-old woman who organized the dance class.
The woman, together with a colleague, must have acted heroically, and saved several children by leading them to an emergency exit.
Boy arrested – motive unknown
The 17-year-old perpetrator has been arrested.
The police have so far been unable to establish a motive.
He is said to be a native of a nearby town, but is said to be originally from Cardiff, in Wales.