Melbourne [Australia], January 1: Two men have been hospitalized with serious injuries following a late-night New Year's Eve stabbing in Melbourne's inner suburbs.
The police force in the state of Victoria said in a statement on Thursday that emergency services were called around 11:45 p.m. local time on Wednesday after a group of up to seven males armed with knives and machetes had attacked two men outside a restaurant in the inner-city suburb of Carlton.
The two victims, aged 18 and 20, sustained serious injuries and were transported to the hospital.
The perpetrators fled the scene in vehicles and Victoria Police said that detectives will investigate if the attack was targeted.
Victoria Police's New Year's Eve State Commander, Superintendent Belinda Jones, said in an earlier statement that officers overwhelmingly saw "great behavior" from crowds celebrating the New Year.
Over 2,300 police officers were deployed to monitor crowds and 18 arrests were made across the state overnight for incidents including assaults, driving and property offenses.
"There was a small number of people who took it too far and chose to do the wrong thing. All reported incidents were resolved quickly ensuring no disruption to the wider community," Jones said.
In addition to the arrests, 313 incidents relating to fireworks were reported.
Two men, aged 31 and 43, were hospitalized with serious injuries from separate incidents involving illegal fireworks.
Source: Xinhua
