Ten people were taken to hospital, nine of whom “may be at risk of death,” following a knife attack on a London-bound train in eastern England on Saturday, according to police who arrested two people.
Police received a report of the incident on the train at around 7:40 p.m. local time (and GMT), after an alarm system was activated, and intervened at Huntingdon station, located in the university town of Cambridge, about 120 kilometers north of the capital.
“The attack has been treated as a serious incident and counter-terrorism police are assisting with the investigation while we work to establish the full circumstances of the incident,” Transport Police added.
No details about the identities of the victims or suspects were immediately released.
Police previously said “several people were stabbed” and “two people were arrested” for the attack, which Prime Minister Keir Starmer called “extremely disturbing”.
Witnesses interviewed by The Times said they saw a man armed with a large knife and passengers hiding in train toilets to protect themselves.
A witness quoted by several media outlets said he saw a man run into the van with a bloody hand and shout: “They have a knife!” Another reported seeing “blood everywhere.”
Even before this testimony emerged, Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the incident “extremely worrying” on X.
“My thoughts are with all those affected and I thank the emergency services for their response,” he said, advising people in the area of the attack to “follow police directions.”
“National Crisis”
Regional emergency services said they had mobilized a “major response” at the Huntingdon station.
The train where the attack took place left at 6:25 p.m. from the city of Doncaster (northern England) with a destination at London King's Cross station, British Transport Police said.
London North Eastern Railway (LNER), which operates rail routes in the east of England and Scotland, urged travelers to avoid all journeys, predicting “severe disruption”.
AFP
In a country with very strict gun laws, knife violence has risen sharply in England and Wales over the past fifteen years, according to official figures. The Prime Minister has previously described the situation as a “national crisis”.
The Starmer government has taken a number of measures to tighten access to bladed weapons since coming to power in July 2024.
AFP
Almost 60,000 of them have been confiscated or returned by police over a decade, Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood said on Wednesday.
On Saturday evening the minister said she was “deeply saddened” by X over the attack in Cambridgeshire, confirming the arrest of two suspects.
The attack comes a month after a synagogue north of Manchester was attacked, where a man attacked worshipers armed with a knife. Two people were killed, one of them was shot by police arriving at the scene.
