Four-year-old girl is among victims of triple murder 'bloodbath' at tower block

A man found injured at the scene of a knife attack in which three members of the same family, including a small child, were killed is being treated as a suspect, police said yesterday.

Neighbours, who described the scene at a tower block in east London as a bloodbath, said one of the victims, a woman aged 31, had had her hands and head cut off. Witnesses said the other victims – the woman's daughter aged four and brother aged 35 – also had severed hands.

Scotland Yard said there had been a history of violence at the family's flat in Sivill House, Bethnal Green, and confirmed that police had been called on Wednesday after an assault on the woman, Nurjhan Khatun. Ms Khatun's daughter, Fahmeda, and brother, Kamal Uddin, had been living with her. The injured man, who is thought to have a cut to the throat, is Ms Khatun's estranged husband.

The fatal attack happened at about 8.30pm on Thursday. Rodney Davill, who lives next door, found the victims. He said an agitated-sounding man had rung his bell from the intercom system outside, asking to be let in. "I said I couldn't because of security reasons," said Mr Davill.

"I then heard two massive screams. I just ran out of my flat and went round the corner. I went to the flat and I saw the mutilated body of a woman. I didn't know what to do. Her throat was cut, her arms cut off," he said.

Another resident of the tower block, who asked not to be named, said: "I was going back to my flat and heard some screams and shouting coming from inside one of the flats on the same floor, the 19th.

"When I looked outside I saw three bodies lying in the hall covered in blood. There was a woman who had her head cut off and two others with their hands hacked off. It was absolutely horrible, there was blood everywhere. It was like a slaughterhouse."

Detective Superintendent Peter Ship, of the serious crime group east, said the estranged husband, who is not Fahmeda's father, was being treated as a suspect because of his relationship with the family.

"Police have not yet formed an opinion but he would be treated as a suspect in his first interview," Supt Ship said.

The man, who was found collapsed on the eighth floor of the block, 11 floors below the murder scene, was described yesterday as being in a critical condition in hospital.

Supt Ship added: "There have been no arrests in relation to this matter and the investigation is still in its early stages. There are several lines of inquiry we are following but we do have a suspect."

He said police had no reason to think the estranged husband's injuries were self- inflicted. The injuries to all the victims were caused by a knife, which detectives believed they had found.

Supt Ship said: "It would be fair to say that there is some history of violence [in the family] and that is one line we are investigating. On Wednesday police were called to the scene to an assault on the same woman. She had been injured but it is not known the extent of her injuries and we don't know who did it."

The area where the attack happened is one of London's poorer neighbourhoods. It is not known for being violent. The block of flats is in Columbia Road, which is also knownfor its Sunday flower market, one of the biggest in the country.

Riz Maslen, who lives in Sivill House, said police had searched the block all night. "This is a lovely block, probably one of the most friendly I've lived in. You don't expect this to happen on your own doorstep."