Police are hunting a female suspect after a woman was stabbed multiple times at a party on Horseshoe Bay early yesterday morning.

The victim, 26 received life-threatening injuries in the attack, which took place at the beach’s car park just before 2.30am as partygoers were leaving.

When paramedics arrived at the scene, the victim was breathing and conscious. She was taken to hospital but later released.

Police described the suspect as a brown-skinned female, approximately 5’ 7” tall, with dreadlocks and reportedly wearing a turquoise hoody. She is believed to be about 30 years old.

A police spokesman said: “The scene has been forensically processed and the incident is now being investigated by detectives from the Serious Crime Unit.”

There has been a wave of knife-crime across the island in recent months, with 14 incidents reported in the past year – three of them fatal.

In February a 14-year-old schoolboy was stabbed while waiting at a bus stop on his way to school.

Later that month, Commissioner of Police Darrin Simons announced a crackdown on knife crime after another stabbing on Glebe Road in Pembroke.

Mr Simons said at the time: “The Bermuda Police Service has noticed what appears to be an uptick in violent incidents involving the use of bladed articles.

“We’ve increased our level of engagement significantly as a result of some of the uptick we’ve seen in violence. We are very much out there already.”

Under current laws, police have the authority to carry stop-and-search patrols in any particular area for a certain amount of time.

Mr Simons said: “The officers do not need reasonable grounds in the circumstances. The authority is given for an area, for a period of time, and officers have the ability to stop and search anyone in that area in order to prevent violence.

“I cannot overstate our position that we will use all means available to us to end this and any other form of criminal activity as we seek to meet our mandate of making Bermuda safer.”

Anyone with information on the latest incident is asked to call 211, or the main police number on 295 001, or the independent and confidential Crime Stoppers hotline on 800 8477.

The spokesman added: “Alternatively, if you are more comfortable speaking with a police officer with whom you are familiar, we urge you to reach out to that officer and share the information with them.”