A man who tried to step in to stop a fight outside a nightclub was stabbed to death in the street in Shoreditch.
Detectives have started a murder hunt to trace two suspects involve in the fight when 26-year-old Zakaria Bukar Ali was knifed in Kingsland Road early Saturday morning.
Zakaria had just left the Rolling Stock nightclub under the East London Line railway bridge when it closed at 6.30am.
He tried to stop the brawl and calm things down when he was attacked himself.
Police found him in a pool of blood on the pavement on the corner of Waterson Street.
Paramedics from the Air Ambulance service arrived from Whitechapel and treated him at the scene, then took him to hospital in a critical condition. But he died two hours later.
“Zakaria tried to intervene in an altercation taking place outside the club,” Det Insp Rita Tierney said. “He was attacked following a night out at the club when he attempted to calm the incident and was stabbed as a result.”
One suspect in his 20s that the police want to trace is described as having a Mediterranean appearance with olive skin, about 5ft 10in tall, stocky build with short dark hair.
The second man is white, about 6ft tall, heavy build, with fair-ginger hair and a fluffy beard.
“There are witnesses or people with information or those who know who these two men are,” Det Insp Tierney added.
“We need help from the public to fill in the gaps—what the sequence of events was that began with a night out and ended in Zakaria’s tragic death.”
Police are now sifting through CCTV footage while a full forensic investigation is continuing at the crime scene and at a block of flats nearby.
A post-mortem examination into Zakaria’s death is due to be held. There have been no arrests by the Met’s Homicide Command so far.
A witness appeal has been started for anyone in the Rolling Stock bar or in the area around 6.30am Saturday or has information to call the Incident Room on 020-8345 3865, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 (crimestoppers-uk.org).
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