Six people taken hospitalised after stabbings at two properties near Belfast

Two people were seriously hurt and four others injured after they were stabbed in two houses in a town just north of Belfast.

They were taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH) in west Belfast after the attacks on the loyalist Ballyduff Brae Estate in Newtownabbey at about 4pm today.

Ambulance Service spokesman John McPoland said: “Six casualties have been taken to the RVH. It happened at a couple of different houses in close proximity.

"Two of them we would be concerned about, we asked for medical teams to be put on stand-by at the hospital."

A police spokesman said: "An investigation into the circumstances is under way but police are not looking for anyone else in connection with the incident at this stage."

A neighbour told Northern Irish channel UTV that she thought the stabbings were a domestic incident.

"I actually feel quite sick about it," she said. ”To think that was going on over there... and we could have done something about it."