Police hunting a gang of Asian youths who battered a white teenager and left him for dead say they are treating the attack as a hate crime.
The 18-year-old victim, named in reports as trainee chef Dan Stringer, was repeatedly kicked and punched by a mob of up to eight people after he was chased down a street in Manchester.
Police said the gang struck at about 10.15pm on Saturday when Mr Stringer and his 19-year-old friend were walking past a takeaway in Market Street, Hyde.
A group of men and a woman saw them and one started banging on the window, produced a knife and used it to make a threatening gesture.
The victims tried to ignore the threats and walked on but moments later the group spilled out of the takeaway and ran after them.
They tried to flee but Mr Stringer fell over and was attacked by the gang, police said.
He was repeatedly punched and kicked as he lay on the ground, suffering two fractured eye sockets. His friend was also punched in the face.
Mr Stringer has undergone surgery in hospital and is now in a stable condition.
There were seven or eight offenders, who are described as being Asian, in their late teens or early 20s.
A police spokesman confirmed the attack was being treated as a hate crime.
It is understood there were no racist or other comments directed at either victim.
Detective Inspector Dave Moores, of Tameside CID, said: "The hospitalised victim hasn't yet been able to give us an account of what happened and what led up to this.
"As a result, we cannot speculate on a possible motive for this. What I can say is that one man has been left seriously injured while another is nursing less serious cuts and bruises.
"It happened at a time of night where there are usually plenty of people milling around walking between pubs or visiting takeaways in the area.
"A large group of up to eight offenders ran after the victims and anyone seeing it would have been under no illusions of what they were witnessing.
"Please, if you saw the incident or what led up to it, or if you have any information that could help us, then pick up the phone.
"I completely understand why this would cause some legitimate concern in the community, but I do not want anyone to jump to any conclusions about this. This type of incident is unusual in Hyde, but that does not lessen the impact on the victims, their families and the wider community."