4 teenagers arrested after knife attack on other teens in Ximending

Taipei, March 10 (CNA) Police have arrested four teenage boys suspected of attacking three other teens with machetes and a baseball bat Sunday night on a street in Taipei's busy Ximending neighborhood.

In a statement early Monday, the Taipei City Police Department said the incident had occurred around 8 p.m. Sunday on Hanzhong Street Lane 50, inside the Ximending walking district.

After being called to the scene, officers found three teenage boys with slash wounds on their arms, shoulders, waists and thighs. All three were fully conscious and were taken by ambulance to area hospitals for treatment.

Based on a preliminary investigation, police said the two groups of youths had arranged to meet in person to settle a dispute that broke out online.

Four suspects in the attack, all minors, were identified using surveillance video footage and were arrested separately later Sunday night.

The suspects and relevant evidence were turned over for handling in the juvenile court system, the police statement said.

According to local media reports, the three victims of the attack were 17, 17 and 15, while the attackers ranged in age from 14 to 17.