Twenty schoolboys quizzed over knife murder in busy rail station

The teenager, named in reports last night as Sofyen Ghailan, from Acton, West London, suffered multiple stab wounds when he was set on during rush hour at Victoria railway station in central London.

Tributes were paid to the teenager on social networking site Facebook.

Witnesses said a gang of attackers wearing school uniform chased the victim from the busy station concourse into an underground ticket hall. The boy, a pupil at the Henry Compton School in Fulham, west London, was then knifed repeatedly in the chest.

Police and paramedics went to his aid as colleagues began arresting suspects as they tried to jump on buses to escape.

Several teenagers were held in nearby Vauxhall Bridge Road and behind The Stag pub in Bressenden Place.

Investigators were questioning suspects aged between 14 and 17

yesterday at several central London police stations.

One line of inquiry is that the boy was the victim of gang rivalries between schools in west and north west London. Police have recovered several weapons, including at least two knives, from the scene of the attack.

British Transport Police (BTP) Detective Superintendent Ashley Croft, who is leading the inquiry, said police had been scouring CCTV footage from around the station.

Mr Croft said: "There were a lot of people around yesterday evening and I am asking them to come forward. There are a lot of people who would have heard or seen something and I ask them to contact us."

Refusing to confirm which school the suspected attackers were attending, Mr Croft added: "What I am looking at is the background to all the people in custody. We have arrested 20 people and that is a positive step.

"It is a natural line of inquiry to look into their background, but it is too early to say more at the moment."

Superintendent Simon Ovens, of the Metropolitan Police, said he was proud of his officers who tended the victim until help arrived and then chased suspects.

He said: "When this type of thing happens we have to respond very quickly. I was incredibly proud of the quick response of my officers last night.

"Within seconds they were here and at the same time as helping they very rapidly arrested those 20 people.

"We are working together with our colleagues at BTP to bring to justice those who have committed this horrible crime."

Speaking about crime in general at Victoria station, Mr Ovens added that the murder was "incredibly rare".

He said: "Tens of thousands of people come through here every day and when you consider that the amount of crime here is very low."

The attack began on steps leading into the station in Terminus Place and ended in a booking hall for the Circle and District Tube lines. It took place at about 5.20pm as the evening rush hour of train, tube and

bus commuters got into full swing.

Witnesses said the attackers were wearing dark blue school blazers and the victim was dressed in a white t-shirt and red sweatshirt.

Paramedics stripped the boy's clothing and tried to resuscitate him before taking him to hospital where he was pronounced dead.

All of those in custody are black and the victim was of north African descent and lived in west London.

Police are investigating whether the attack is linked to a violent confrontation between schoolboys at the station the previous evening.