Protesters in Dublin, Ireland, burned a car and clashed with police officers on Thursday, according to an Agence France-Presse correspondent, after three children were injured in a stabbing near a school that rumors on social media attributed it to a foreigner.
A five-year-old girl was seriously injured and four other people, including two children, were taken to hospital following the midday crash near a primary school in Dublin city centre.
Hundreds of Irish people took to the streets after rumors spread about the attacker’s nationality, as some of them clashed with police and attacked their cars, according to an Agence France-Presse correspondent.
Police Chief Drew Harris blamed the chaos on a “completely insane faction driven by far-right ideology”, warning of the spread of “misinformation”.
He added that several police cars were hit and video footage showed one of the cars catching fire.
Prime Minister Leo Varadkar announced the arrest of a suspect, while police said they were “following a specific line of investigation”.
“Five injured people have been transferred to various hospitals in the Dublin area,” police said in a statement.
He explained that “among the injured were an adult man and woman and three small children.”
He added that one girl was seriously injured, while the other two children were being treated for less serious injuries.
The statement confirmed that police were “investigating all possibilities” regarding what it described as a “serious incident relating to public order” which occurred shortly after 1.30pm.
Police are communicating with the families of the three children.
Local police official Liam Geraghty announced in a press conference that the police are not looking for “anyone else”, underlining that investigators had ruled out any “terrorist” motive in light of the first elements of the investigation.
Varadkar said he was shocked by the incident which occurred outside a primary school, according to local media.
He added in a statement: “The emergency services responded quickly and were on the scene within minutes, and I thank them for that.”