LONDON: Friends and family have offered tributes to an 18-year-old Afghan refugee who was stabbed to death this week in southwest London.
Hazrat Wali was killed on Tuesday after a fight broke out near Richmond upon Thames College, in Twickenham, Greater London.
Wali is the 25th teenager to be killed in a knife attack in London this year, which threatens to be the city’s deadliest year of knife crime since 2008, which saw 29 teenagers killed.
A teacher is said to have tried to revive Wali when he was found with stab wounds, and police and paramedics who later arrived on scene also gave him medical attention, but the refugee could not be saved.
Sahil Kochay, a friend of Wali, said: “He was a very good person. Very caring and loved everyone. He didn’t hold any hate towards anybody. He used to stand up for everyone.”
Kochay added: “I wish I knew why someone would hurt him. He wasn’t the kind of guy to fight.”
A relative of Wali, from Stanmore in northwest London, said the teen had come to London to study.
“Hazrat was a very good boy. He came here to study; he was living all on his own in London. His immediate family are all back in Afghanistan. I saw him in hospital. He had a fight is all that I’ve heard.”
Munira Wilson, Twickenham’s MP, said police were “pursuing a key suspect who is still at large,” but they have yet to make any arrests, or establish a motive for the crime. They have urged members of the public with information about the killing to come forward.
Detective Chief Inspector Vicky Tunstall, of the Metropolitan Police’s specialist crime command, said: “We are still working to establish the motive behind this tragic attack and are following a number of leads.
“Officers have recovered CCTV from the area and spoken to a number of witnesses who described seeing a fight in the moments before Hazrat was attacked.
“We know a lot of people were on the field at the time and I’d urge anyone who has not yet spoken to police to contact us immediately.”