A 14-year-old schoolboy who was stabbed to death in broad daylight in London yesterday has been named as Kelyan Bokassa.
Bokassa died shortly after the knife attack on a 472 double-decker bus on Church Street in Woolwich, southeast London, on Tuesday.
Speaking to the BBC, his mother Mary Bokassa said he was “kind”, loved music, was talented at drawing, and cared about the people around him.
Mary added that Kelyan was articulate and loved football.
Police, paramedics and the London Air Ambulance had descended on the scene just after 2.30pm yesterday after a police officer on patrol raised the alarm.
Though medics tried to treat the 14-year-old’s injuries, he died soon afterwards.
Police said they were working “at pace” to find his killers – but no arrests have yet been made.
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Yesterday, the Metropolitan Police’s Chief Superintendent Louise Sargent called the crime “horrendous” before giving her condolences to the boy’s family.
A London Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We sent resources to the scene, including an ambulance crew, a paramedic in a fast response car, an incident response officer and a paramedic from our tactical response unit.
“We also dispatched London’s Air Ambulance.
“Sadly, despite the best efforts of our crews, a teenager was pronounced dead at the scene.”
And one eyewitness – a woman working at a nearby church – said she saw an air ambulance and other emergency vehicles arrive at the scene, but did not see any of the passengers from the bus.
The public have been urged to call police on 101 quoting reference number 3795 of January 7, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
