Several people were injured in a major stabbing on a train in Great Britain on Saturday evening. Ten of them have been taken to hospital and nine of the victims are in life-threatening condition, reports said various British media.
The stabbing took place on a train heading to the town of Huntingdon, not far from Cambridge, in eastern England. The police have arrested two suspects. The police anti-terrorist unit is involved in the investigation into the stabbing. Nothing is yet known about a possible motive.
“This has been declared a major incident and the Counter Terrorism Unit is supporting our investigation as we seek to determine the full facts and motives of this incident,” police said in a statement. According to local police, armed officers quickly arrived on the scene after receiving a report of a major stabbing at 7:39 p.m.
Eyewitnesses
An eyewitness who was on the train, told the British newspaper The Guardian that he saw someone walking through the carriage warning others: “He has a knife, I have been stabbed.” The witness told Sky News that the man was “covered in blood” and that when the train stopped he was “practically on the ground”. “That person collapsed and was taken to an ambulance almost immediately,” he said.
According to other witnesses, injured passengers fled through the train, away from someone with a knife. Armed officers were later seen pointing their weapons at a man standing on the platform with a large knife, a witness said. The man was then knocked out with a taser and overpowered.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the incident “very disturbing” and called on people to follow police instructions. In a statement on X the Prime Minister wrote that his thoughts go out “to everyone who has been affected, and my thanks go to the emergency services for their efforts.”
NEW: Give this item as a gift
As an NRC subscriber you can subscribe every month 10 articles give as a gift to someone without an NRC subscription. The recipient can read the article directly, without a paywall.