A man has been stabbed in a wild all-in brawl in the bayside suburb of Kananook, south-east of Melbourne.
The 23 year-old man is in a critical condition after suffering several stab wounds to the abdomen. He was left at Frankston hospital by a group of unknown men.
The fight, which included 'up to 100 people', had erupted at Kananook Railway Station on Sunday 20 December, before police arrived at around 5.30pm. 12 men between the ages of 19 and 32 were arrested by police, who also seized weapons including baseball bats, a samurai sword and a machete. Those arrested came from all across the Melbourne suburbs, including Sunshine West, Carlton, Taylors Hill, Deer Park, Collingwood, Ardeer, Melton and Dandenong.
There is speculation the group were drawn to Kananook for a basketball competition, however the manager of the tournament, South Sudanese Australian National Basketball Association manager Manny Berberi, claims none of the players were in any way involved.
“We were handing out the trophies when we heard there were some drunken youths at the train station fighting among themselves,” Mr Berberi said. “I think maybe they saw the competition was on so came down, but they didn’t even come into the stadium to support the teams at all. None of the players were involved."
