Stabbed three times in chest, latest victim was 'caught up in drugs feud'

Faridon Alizada, 18, was knifed three times in the chest at a notorious tower block early on Saturday.

Two other teenagers, believed to be aged 16, were also stabbed in the attack at Verona House on the Larner Road estate in Erith, south-east London.

One of the two is still in the Royal London Hospital in a serious but stable condition. All three victims are believed to be of Somali origin.

A teenage witness said about 12 boys were seen arguing outside the tower block around the time of the stabbing. He said there were a number of girls screaming in the background.

Police have arrested two men, aged 31 and 41, in connection with Faridon's death. They are being questioned at a south London police station.

Teenagers on the estate said the stabbings may have been the result of a clash between two gangs - the West Street Boys and the Younger Rebel Attackers.

A neighbour said the flat where Faridon - from Bexley - was discovered had been taken over by drug dealers in the past month and was a crack den. The 19-year-old, too frightened to be named, said: "There are lots of different faces coming and going, old crackheads and stuff. There was a young girl living there, but people have taken it over. It's not nice living near it with all the shouting, but we don't want to ask them to be quiet."

Another neighbour said: "Someone has been running a crack den out of there. They were always throwing needles out of the window."

The 15-storey block is used as a dumping ground for people evicted from other flats, according to another resident. She said: "All the drug dealers and people who've been kicked out of other flats get moved in here."

Locals described Verona House as a condemned tower rife with crime and drugs. Ian James, 39, who has lived there for seven years, said: "We get a lot of hoodies round here, and a lot of drug problems. I have been burgled, and when I go down the stairs I sometimes see needles. There are police cars and ambulances round here all the time."

A woman in her twenties, who did not wish to be named, added: "It's such a low-life area. It's the gangland of Erith. That's the worst block in the whole estate. They were going to knock it down but they never did."

The block is close to Erith Leisure Centre where Ernest Norton, 67, died in 2006 after being pelted with stones as he played cricket with his son.

Police believe Faridon's death is "criminal related".