Thousands of mourners gather at vigil for three girls killed in Southport knife rampage – as parents of victim Bebe King say 'no words can describe the devastation that has hit our family'

Thousands of heartbroken mourners tonight gathered for a vigil to remember the three young girls who were killed in the Southport rampage on Monday.

Tearful locals laid flowers outside the Merseyside town’s grand Atkinson building after falling silent to remember six-year-old Bebe King, seven-year-old Elsie Dot Stancombe and nine-year-old Elise Dot Stancombe.

They were among 11 children stabbed during a ‘ferocious’ knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed yoga and dance workshop in Southport on Monday lunchtime.

Five further children, aged between six and 11, are in a critical condition alongside two female adults, among them hero yoga teacher Leanne Lucas, who ‘bravely tried to protect them’.

In the first week of the summer holidays, the seaside town should be bustling with happy families and tourists. But at 6pm on Tuesday, more than 5,000 people stood in silence outside the Atkinson building amid an outpouring of grief and shock. 

In front of the Grade II-listed building, which…