Mass Stabbing on UK Train Leaves 10 Hospitalized with Nine Facing Life-Threatening Injuries

The train was running from Doncaster in the northeast to London's King's Cross Station

United Kingdom:

UK police arrested two suspects following a mass stabbing incident on a London-bound train late Saturday that resulted in 10 people being hospitalized, with nine likely suffering "life-threatening injuries".

Armed police, supported by police vehicles and numerous ambulances, converged on a railway station in the eastern rural town of Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, after authorities were alerted to the attack and the train was stopped there.

"Ten people have been taken to hospital following a multiple stabbing on a train in Cambridgeshire. Nine are believed to have suffered life-threatening injuries," British Transport Police stated on X, noting that counter-terrorism units were assisting with the investigation.

Transport police confirmed the train was traveling from Doncaster in the northeast to London's King's Cross Station, a frequently busy route often filled with travelers.

A witness described seeing an individual wielding a large knife and told The Times newspaper there was "blood everywhere" as people sought refuge in washrooms.

Some passengers were getting "stamped (on) by others" during the panicked exodus, and the witness told The Times they "heard some people shouting we love (you)".

Witnesses informed Sky News they observed a man holding a large knife on the platform after the train stopped. They subsequently saw the man tasered and subdued by police officers.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the "appalling" incident "deeply concerning".

"My thoughts are with all those affected, and my thanks go to the emergency services for their response," Starmer wrote in a statement on X.

"Anyone in the area should follow the advice of the police," Starmer added, while his interior minister Shabana Mahmood confirmed two individuals had been taken into custody.

Armed police responded to the scene after being notified around 7:40 pm (1940 GMT) shortly after the train had departed from Peterborough.

Late Saturday, authorities were examining the train, which was being treated as a crime scene. People were also escorted outside the station wrapped in space blankets, as observed by an AFP photographer.

The East of England Ambulance Service announced on X that it had deployed a "large-scale response" to Huntingdon station including ambulances, air ambulances and tactical commanders.

Train operator London North Eastern Railway (LNER) reported that railway lines were closed while emergency services managed the incident.

LNER, which operates trains along eastern England and Scotland, advised passengers against traveling, warning of "major disruption" with blocked lines in the area.

The mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Paul Bristow, stated on X that he was aware of "horrendous scenes", adding that his "thoughts and prayers (are) with everyone affected".

The identities of the two arrested individuals and the motive for the attack were not immediately disclosed.

Knife crime in England and Wales has shown a steady increase since 2011, according to official government data.

While Britain maintains some of the world's strictest gun controls, the prevalence of knife crime has been labeled a "national crisis" by Starmer.

His Labour government has implemented measures to control their use.

Nearly 60,000 blades have been either "seized or surrendered" in England and Wales as part of government initiatives to reduce knife crime by half within a decade, the interior ministry announced Wednesday.

Carrying a knife in public can result in imprisonment for up to four years, and the government reported that knife murders had decreased by 18 percent over the past year.

Two people died — one due to misdirected police gunfire — and others were wounded in a stabbing spree at a Manchester synagogue in early October, an attack that deeply affected the local Jewish community and the nation.

Additionally, a man appeared in a London court on Thursday charged with murder following a stabbing attack in daylight that left one person dead and two injured.