Washington: United States President Donald Trump on Friday called an unnamed hospital in London a “war zone”, adding the hospital has the blood of victims of “knife attacks” all over the floors.
Speaking at the National Rifle Association (NRA) convention in Dallas, President Trump, while defending gun laws in his country, said, “They don’t have guns, despite tough gun laws in the UK. They have knives and instead, there’s blood all over the floors of this hospital. They say it’s as bad as a military war zone hospital, knives, knives, knives. London hasn’t been used to that. They’re getting used to that. It’s pretty tough.”
It is not clear which London hospital the US President was referring to, CNN reported.
However, Dr. Martin Griffiths of the Royal London Hospital told BBC last month that his hospital was likened to an Afghan war zone.
“Some of my military colleagues have described their practice here as being similar to being at (Helmand province’s former Camp) Bastion. We routinely have children under our care – 13, 14, 15 years old are daily occurrences, knife and gun wounds,” Dr. Griffiths said.
Amidst this, Dr. Griffiths wrote on Twitter with an image suggesting the president had missed the point while adding that he was “happy to invite President Trump to his prestigious hospital”.
Happy to invite Mr Trump to my (prestigious) hospital to meet with our mayor and police commissioner to discuss our successes in violence reduction in London @SadiqKhan @metpoliceuk @NHSBartsHealth #WindrushAwards pic.twitter.com/G4vYqTkfbL
— Martin P Griffiths 💙 🇯🇲🇬🇧 (@martinpgriff) May 5, 2018
According to figures released by London’s Metropolitan Police, the city recorded 4,700 incidents of knife injuries between April 2017 and March this year, the highest reported figures in England and Wales since 2011.
About 60 suspected murders have been reported in London so far this year, including assaults and stabbings. While for last year, the city saw 116 murders, including at least 80 stabbing victims and 10 gunshot victims, the police said on Saturday.
The Metropolitan Police further said that despite the rise in numbers, London remained “one of the safest cities in the world.”
Last week, British Ambassador to the US, Kim Darroch, said in a statement that President Trump was all set to travel to the UK on a one-day working visit on July 13.
The visit had been repeatedly delayed over a series of diplomatic spats. (ANI)