HUNTINGDON: British police were on Sunday investigating a mass stabbing on a London-bound train that left at least 10 people wounded, including nine critically, with two people arrested. Police were alerted to an emergency on board a train between Doncaster, a town in northeast England and London's King's Cross Station at around 7:40 pm on Saturday night. The train was stopped at Huntingdon station in Cambridgeshire, where armed officers boarded the train as police cars, a fleet of ambulances and two air ambulances swarmed the station in the market town in eastern England. Local MP Ben Obese-Jecty said he had "never seen as big a response" to an emergency incident as he attended the scene. Ten people were taken to the hospital, with "nine believed to have suffered life-threatening injuries", British Transport Police said in an update in the early hours of Sunday.
Witnesses on board the train have described scenes of chaos and horror as an attacker with a large knife stabbed passengers on board. Witness Olly Foster told the BBC that he heard people shouting "run, run, there's a guy literally stabbing everyone," and initially thought it was a Halloween-related prank. But passengers then started pushing through the carriage, Foster said, adding that his hand was left "covered in blood" that had spilled onto the chair he had been leaning on.
Foster said he saw an older man block the assailant from stabbing a younger girl, adding that the attack "felt like forever" though it lasted only minutes. A witness told The Times newspaper there was "blood everywhere" as people hid in the washrooms. Others told Sky News they saw a man holding a large knife on the platform after the train halted. They then saw the man tasered and restrained by police.
Police "arrested two people in connection to the incident who have been taken to police custody." The identity of the suspects is not yet known, nor is the motive behind the attack. The police and the government have urged the public not to speculate about who was behind the attack and why. Police declared it a "major incident" and counter terror police is aiding the investigation, which continued on Sunday as Huntingdon station remained closed and cordoned off to the public.
Defence Secretary John Healey said on Sunday the early assessment was that the incident was an "isolated attack". "So there's no reason for the rest of us not to get on with our lives, get on and travel to the places we need to get to," Healey told Sky News. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the "appalling" incident was "deeply concerning". London North Eastern Railway, which operates along the route, urged customers not to travel on Sunday due to ongoing disruptions, saying services may be cancelled at short notice.
Britain's King Charles III and his wife Queen Camilla said on Sunday they were "truly appalled and shocked to hear of the dreadful knife attack" on a London-bound train. "Our deepest sympathy and thoughts are with those affected, and their loved ones," the British monarch said following Saturday's attack in which 10 people were initially hospitalised. The king also thanked emergency services for their response. — AFP
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