A MURDER inquiry was under way today after a teenager was stabbed to death on a Southampton housing estate.

Daniel Loader, 17, was rushed to Southampton General Hospital following a fight in Purbrook Close, Aldermoor, just before 7pm last night.

The teenager is thought to have been stabbed twice in the back with a kitchen knife.

Police said he was taken to hospital by ambulance but died later last night.

Today murder squad detectives were working to establish events leading up to the fatal stabbing.

Senior investigating officer, Det Supt Andy Stewart, said: "At the moment we are still trying to piece together what happened yesterday.

"We urgently need anybody who was in the area at the time and saw or heard anything to come forward.

"At this stage of the investigation we are keeping an open mind and need anyone with any information, however insignificant it may seem, to call us immediately.

"Our thoughts are with Daniel's family and friends at this time." Police confirmed that a 16-year-old boy had been arrested in connection with the stabbing and was today being questioned.

A post-mortem was due to be carried out by Home Office pathologist Allen Anscombe later today.

Witnesses described seeing Daniel, who was known as Danny, fighting with another teenage boy before the incident happened.

Residents said the injured youngster had managed to stagger a short distance into the next street before collapsing. A 21-year-old man told the Daily Echo today how he had seen the drama from his kitchen window before rushing out to help the injured youth.

"We heard that one of the friends had been in a fight up at the sports park," he said.

"The boys came out ready for a fight and the boy who was stabbed tried to stop them.

"I went afterwards with a rug and tried to stop his bleeding."

A woman in nearby Waltham Crescent said: "There were two teenagers fighting up at Bransbury Close.

"One of them pulled out a knife and stabbed the other three times.

"The youngster managed to walk down the road and collapsed in a pool of blood outside my house.

"The last we heard was he had gone to hospital. We thought he would be OK. I always thought they were mates."

One pensioner added: "There was a gang of them out on the street last night all shouting and fighting.

"This estate has just got worse over the years.''

Another elderly man said there was a gang of teenagers out in the street last night shouting and "larking about'' before the ambulance crew arrived.

Bransbury Close, a small cul-de-sac leading off Waltham Crescent on the Aldermoor estate, remained sealed off this morning, with police officers standing at the entrance to the street.

Broken glass was spread across the road at the spot where the stabbing is thought to have taken place.

Floral tributes have been laid at the spot in Waltham Crescent where he was stabbed.

Friends wept as they gathered in the street to mourn the youth.

The estate was eerily silent and householders peered out of windows in the cordoned off road.

Many residents had no idea of the tragedy that had unfolded overnight.

One pensioner in Waltham Crescent said: "We were watching TV when we saw the ambulance out of the window.

"There was a young nipper lying on the side of the road and the ambulance crew just picked him up and were away."

Murray Lovell, 80, of Waltham Crescent said it was about time that calm was restored to the Aldermoor estate.

"Crime is escalating all the time around here," he said.

"What happened to the old days when you could feel safe in your own home?"

This morning, flowers were also laid outside Daniel's family home in nearby Wonston Road.

Friends and family were gathered in tears outside the house.

Another Waltham Crescent resident said she remembered looking out, adding: "There was a young girl between 15 and 17 years old. She was sitting on the side of the road and crying quite loudly. I don't know what her involvement was or where she came from." Another man who did not wish to be named said he saw someone who he believed to be the attacker run into a house and emerge with a knife which he used to stab the youth.

He said: "This used to be a close-knit community - now you barely know your neighbours."

When told about the murder this morning, Coxford ward councillor Sue Jackson said: "That is really awful. I am so sorry to hear that.

"I know there are quite a few groups of youths in the Aldermoor and Lordshill areas.

"We have had quite a few problems in the area but a lot of work has already been done.

"We are working closely with the police.

"I have been out with the police myself and have been shown where the youths go."

Fellow Coxford ward councillor Peter Galton said: "The whole situation is tragic. Our thoughts are with the family.

"An incident like this will not just affect those directly involved but will ripple out across the whole community. The problems in Aldermoor have been quite long term and tend to go in circles.

"I thought things had been quite quiet lately but unfortunately that can change in a split second."

Cllr Galton added: "Obviously we don't yet know what sparked this incident but it is very worrying that someone was apparently carrying a knife.

"It is a very worrying trend, not just here but nationally."

A team of Hampshire police officers was drafted in last night as a murder investigation, codenamed Operation Silicon, was launched.

Anyone with information is urged to contact the incident room at Hampshire police divisional headquarters in Hulse Road, Southampton, on 0845 045 4545, or the anonymous Crimestoppers line on 0800 555 111.