Knife attack on UK train leaves nine seriously injured
Police responded promptly to the incident (Photo: Getty Images)
A major incident occurred on a train in the UK on Saturday evening en route to London, when an unknown assailant attacked passengers with a knife. Ten people were injured, according to the Associated Press.
The attack took place on the Doncaster–London train as it was heading south toward Huntingdon, a market town a few miles northwest of the university city of Cambridge.
Emergency services, including armed police and air ambulance crews, responded quickly when the train arrived in Huntingdon. The attack appears to have been swiftly stopped once the train reached the station. Forensic experts with sniffer dogs also arrived on the platform.
As a result of the incident, ten people were hospitalized, nine of them with life-threatening injuries. Two more individuals were arrested at the station, located 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of London, the British transport police reported. The investigation also involves counter-terrorism police.
“his has been declared a major incident and Counter Terrorism Policing are supporting our investigation whilst we work to establish the full circumstances and motivation for this incident,” authorities said.
The police also stated that the Plato protocol had been activated - a national code word used by police and emergency services when responding to a potential terrorist marauding attack. This declaration was later rescinded, and the motive for the attack has not been disclosed.
“We’re conducting urgent enquiries to establish what has happened, and it could take some time before we are in a position to confirm anything further,” said senior police officer Chris Casey.
Authorities have cautioned that it is too early to speculate on the motive behind the incident.
Meanwhile, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer responded, expressing sympathy for all those affected by the horrific incident.
Paul Bristow, mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said he had heard about the horrific scenes on the train.
London North Eastern Railway confirmed the incident on one of its trains and urged passengers to avoid travel due to major service disruptions.
For context, in October, a Russian-speaking man attacked a Ukrainian-speaking family on a train in Switzerland, threatening to kill them. Fortunately, no one required medical attention.
Additionally, RBC-Ukraine reported that in Michigan, a man attacked people with a knife in a Walmart supermarket, injuring at least 11 individuals.
