UK police arrest two suspects after multiple people stabbed on London-bound train, with large-scale emergency response at Huntingdon station.
HUNTINGDON: UK police have arrested two suspects following multiple stabbings on a London-bound train late Saturday.
British Transport Police confirmed they were responding to an incident where multiple people had been stabbed.
Armed police and emergency services swarmed Huntingdon station in Cambridgeshire after the train was brought to a halt there.
Cambridgeshire police stated that a number of people had been taken to hospital for treatment.
The train was travelling from Doncaster in northeast England to London’s King’s Cross station.
The exact number of injured passengers remains unknown though some media reports suggest around ten people were wounded.
One witness described seeing a man with a large knife and told The Times newspaper there was blood everywhere.
Passengers reportedly hid in washrooms while others were trampled as people tried to escape the attack.
Witnesses told Sky News they saw a man holding a large knife on the platform after the train stopped.
They observed police tasering and restraining the suspect on the platform.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the incident as appalling and deeply concerning.
Starmer expressed his thoughts for all those affected and thanked emergency services for their response.
Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood confirmed two people had been taken into police custody.
Armed police were alerted to the incident around 7:40 pm local time on Saturday.
Police treated the train as a crime scene and conducted thorough inspections throughout the evening.
An AFP photographer observed people being led away from the station wrapped in space blankets.
The East of England Ambulance Service mobilised a large-scale response including multiple ambulances and air support.
Ambulance services confirmed they had transported multiple patients to hospital for treatment.
Train operator London North Eastern Railway announced railway line closures due to the emergency response.
LNER advised passengers not to travel and warned of major disruption to services along the route.
The mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough described hearing reports of horrendous scenes on the train.
Paul Bristow expressed his thoughts for everyone affected by the violent incident.
The identities of the two arrested individuals have not been publicly released.
Knife crime in England and Wales has been steadily increasing since 2011 according to official data.
Britain maintains some of the world’s strictest gun controls but faces challenges with knife violence.
Prime Minister Starmer has previously described rampant knife crime as a national crisis.
The Labour government has implemented measures to reduce knife crime within a decade.
Nearly 60,000 blades have been seized or surrendered in England and Wales through government initiatives.
Carrying a knife in public can result in up to four years imprisonment under current laws.
The government reported an 18% reduction in knife murders over the past year.
This incident follows a recent stabbing attack at a Manchester synagogue that left two people dead.
Another stabbing in London last Thursday resulted in one death and two injuries. – AFP
