An Omani 20-year-old student was stabbed to death near luxury department store Harrods London on Friday.
Identified as Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Araimi, the Kings College politics and economics student was killed while walking back home with a friend just after midnight. The men had reached Knightsbridge after grabbing dinner in the area when they were attacked by two muggers.
One of Al Araimi's friends told >The Daily Mail that the young man, who had been in the UK for the past three years, put up a fight after the thieves tried to snatch an expensive watch he was wearing.
"One of the thieves tried to steal Mohammad's expensive watch - I think a Rolex - but he fought back. There was a struggle and he was stabbed," he explained.
Watching the attack unfold, the friend who was with Al Araimi at the time of the incident tried to intervene but was also stabbed in the process. He was later transferred to a hospital where he is currently being treated.
Scotland Yard detectives said they launched a murder investigation into the case and are working on finding the perpetrators.
"The victim and his friend were entirely blameless, simply enjoying a meal out together. It does appear that the motive for this cowardly attack was robbery," Chief Inspector Andy Partridge said in a statement.
A post-mortem examination conducted at Westminster Mortuary confirmed Al Araimi's cause of death to be a single stab wound. The young man's parents are said to be flying into London to work on repatriating their son's body.
Oman's embassy in the UK said it was fully supporting the student's family during this difficult time.
"With great sadness and sorrow, the Embassy in London extends its condolences to the family of the deceased," it said.
Al Araimi's death is among recent cases of murders in which three men in their 20s were stabbed in Britain's capital in the frame of just 24 hours.
On Friday afternoon, a 22-year-old man named Exauce Ngimbi was found dead with stab wounds in Hackney. Hours later, a 20-year-old rapper known as Bis was also found murdered in Deptford.
The Metropolitan Police do not believe the deaths were linked in any way and issued a statement condemning the killings as a "tragedy."