Sydney Easter Show stabbing: Why police are struggling to find killer

Uati "Pele" Faletolu was stabbed to death at the Royal Easter Show. Photo / Supplied

Police hunting for the knifeman who stabbed a boy to death at the Royal Easter Show in Sydney are struggling because CCTV is dark and grainy.

Uati 'Pele' Faletolu, 17, died on Monday evening after being stabbed in the chest.

His killer remains at large and police are now combing through CCTV.

Floodlights have been installed at the showground as some of the footage is too dark to properly view, Australia's 7 News reported.

An 18-year-old carnival worker previously told news.com.au how she applied pressure to her dying friend Uati's chest in a desperate effort to save his life, while onlookers filmed from metres away with "smirks" on their faces.

The teenager sprang to action immediately when she saw the body of her younger friend on the ground near the clown stall.

The 17-year-old had just been stabbed and lay with blood pouring from his chest, but a crowd of witnesses did nothing but pull their phones out to film, his friend, who wanted to remain anonymous, told news.com.au.

"Everyone just stood there. No one wanted to ask for help besides one lady, she was the only one who came up and said, 'do you need me to call the ambulance?'," the teen recalled.

"Everyone else just stood there and pulled out their phones," she said, adding that when she briefly looked up from Uati, "some people had smirks on their face".

"It infuriated me even more."

The teen held Uati's head and pressed on his wound to limit his blood loss during the five agonising minutes of waiting for medics to arrive.

She had been working at the clown stall completely oblivious to the brawl until she noticed "everyone screaming and scatter out of the way".

"I looked down and saw him on the floor," she said, adding she and her colleagues then rushed over to try to provide assistance until paramedics arrived.

While supporting Uati's head, she made a heartwrenching observation.

"I could see it in his eyes that he wasn't going to make it, and it was making me upset," she said.

Videos were taken of a brawl at the scene but they are grainy. Photo / Supplied

"Because I knew him, and went to school with him, that made it even worse."

The young girl was furious she was one of the only people who tried to help save his life.

"I would do that for anyone else, it's not only that I knew him, but if I saw someone that needed help I would be the first one to get there," she said.

Uati was in the year group below her in school and was like a "little brother", she said.

It was her belief that Uati was targeted by a group, who fled the scene after stabbing him.

Since the traumatic ordeal, she has been barely able to sleep, and said she had been surviving off energy drinks to get through her shifts at the show.

She had been tasked with working near the scene of the crime but "broke down" when she saw it, so was moved to a different area.

The worker said while young members of the crowd seemed oblivious to what had unfolded at the grounds days earlier, adults appeared more wary as they made their way around.

A 16-year-old boy remains in a stable condition in hospital, while a 15-year-old relative of the victim has been released on bail after being charged with carrying a knife in public and affray over his alleged involvement in the brawl.

The person responsible for the death remains at large.

An investigation into the incident continues and police are appealing for anyone with information or vision of the incident, to come forward and contact police or Crime Stoppers.