Eleven people were injured in knife attacks on a train in England. Authorities see no indication of terrorism. Police have since released one of the two people arrested.
Following the knife attack on a train in eastern England, one of two men arrested has been released without charge. The 35-year-old was not involved in the attack on Saturday evening, British police announced on Sunday. There is now only one suspect remaining, a 32-year-old British man. He was born in Britain and has a migration background.
The man is suspected of attempted murder."Specialized investigators are examining the background of the suspect we have in custody, as well as the events leading up to the attack," Sky News quoted Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Cundy as saying. Police do not believe it was a terrorist attack. The motive remains unclear.
Eleven people were treated in hospital. Five of the injured have since been released, British Transport Police announced on Sunday evening. One person remains in critical condition; initially, two people were in critical condition.
According to reports, the victim was a railway employee who tried to stop the attacker. Investigators have reviewed CCTV footage from the train, the BBC quoted police as saying."And it is clear that his actions were nothing short of heroic and undoubtedly saved many lives."
Police secured a knife after the attack. They initially classified it as a"serious incident," and anti-terrorism police also assisted in the investigation, it was reported on Saturday. According to media reports, police temporarily used the code name"Plato" in their communications, a term used in Britain for terrorist attacks.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the incident as"horrible" and "deeply disturbing" in a statement."My thoughts are with all those affected, and I thank the emergency services for their efforts," the politician said on Facebook. He urged everyone in the area to follow police instructions.
Huntingdon is located in the county of Cambridgeshire, about 100 kilometers north of London. According to police, the train was traveling from Doncaster to the British capital. Emergency services were alerted to the attack shortly after 7:42 p.m. (local time). The train was stopped in Huntingdon, and arrests were made shortly afterward.
Large deployment of ambulances and police vehicles
The weapon used was initially unclear. A large number of ambulances and police vehicles were deployed. According to media reports, witnesses described dramatic scenes on the train; some spoke of knife violence, others claimed to have seen a machete.
Paul Bristow, the mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said he had heard of"horrible scenes" on the train. One witness told The Times newspaper he saw a man with a large knife and"blood everywhere." Passengers had locked themselves in the toilets. Others, according to a report in the Daily Mail, said they were literally trampled as desperate passengers tried to escape the chaos.
A journalist from Sky News also reported on"horrifying" scenes described by witnesses."We're hearing about people tripping over each other. We're hearing about passengers hiding in the toilets," she said. One traveler told the broadcaster he saw one of the attackers being subdued with a Taser by police on the platform and subsequently arrested.
The rail operator London North Eastern Railway (LNER) announced that all train services across its network had been suspended due to the operation. LNER operates routes in eastern England and Scotland, with stops including London, Cambridge, York, and Edinburgh.
King Charles expresses his"deepest sympathy" for the victims.
The BBC documented a statement from King Charles on Sunday."My wife and I were deeply saddened and shocked by the horrific knife attack that took place last night on a train in Cambridgeshire. Our deepest sympathies and thoughts are with all those affected and their families," it read.
Earlier, British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood had stated on X that she was"deeply saddened" by the incident. She called on the public on Saturday to"avoid comments and speculation at this early stage."
According to government figures, knife violence in England and Wales has steadily increased since 2011. Starmer described this as a"national crisis." As part of his government's efforts to halve knife crime within ten years, almost 60,000 knives have been"confiscated or surrendered" in England and Wales, according to the Home Office. Carrying a knife in public can be punished with up to four years in prison. The number of fatal knife attacks fell by 18 percent last year, according to the government.
In early October, an attacker armed with a knife killed a man outside a synagogue in Manchester. Another man was killed by a stray police shot. British authorities classified the attack as"terrorist".
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