Hundreds of mourners gathered in Southport, northwest England, on Sunday for the funeral of a nine-year-old girl killed last month in the knife attack that sparked nationwide unrest for more than a week.
Nearly two weeks after the stabbing that rocked the country, family, friends, community leaders and emergency workers joined Alice da Silva Aguiar’s parents in an emotional ceremony at a Catholic church in the coastal town.
Attendees were asked to wear white, a tradition for some in Portugal, where Alice’s parents are from.
Locals along the main street clapped as the funeral procession – carrying a small white coffin resting on a carriage pulled by two white horses with colorful feathers – passed by.
“Of course we’re here – that’s the spirit of Southport,” said one man who had come. “We’re here to show our respects.”
Pink ribbons and balloons were attached to lamp posts and garden walls near the church.
Several hundred people crowded into the hall to attend the service, which consisted of short speeches, readings, prayers and hymns and was broadcast via loudspeakers to those gathered outside.
Jinnie Payne, the headteacher of the primary school the nine-year-old attended, was among those who gave a moving speech.
“Alice, you will be in our hearts forever,” she told the congregation.
The July 29 stabbing during a Taylor Swift dance class left two other girls dead – six-year-old Bebe King and seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe – and ten others injured, including eight children.
All injured people have now been able to leave the hospital.
– “Unimaginable violence” –
Bebe’s parents, Lauren and Ben King, described on Saturday how their “world has been rocked by the loss of our beloved daughter.”
“She was taken from us in an unimaginable act of violence that has left our hearts irreparably broken,” police said in a statement, adding that she was “full of joy, light and love.”
The couple also revealed that their older daughter Genie witnessed the attack and was able to escape.
The stabbings sparked riots in Southport on the evening of July 30 and violence in over a dozen English towns and cities, as well as in Northern Ireland, over the following week.
Officials blame the violence on right-wing extremist agitators and opportunistic “thugs,” who are accused of exploiting the tragedy to advance their anti-immigration and anti-Islam agenda.
Immediately after the stabbing, false information spread on the Internet that the perpetrator was a Muslim immigrant.
British-born Axel Rudakubana has been charged with murder and attempted murder for the attack. His parents are from Rwanda, a country where the majority of the population is Christian.
A motive for the attack was not disclosed, but police said the incident was not considered terrorist-related.
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