What we know about Huntingdon train stabbings

Passengers traveling from Doncaster to London were attacked with a mass knife on Saturday night.

Ten people were injured and taken to hospital. It was learned that 9 of the injured had life-threatening conditions.

Two people were arrested after the train made an unplanned stop in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, and witnesses reported police used a stun gun on a man holding a knife.

Anti-terrorism police also participated in the investigation. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the attack was “appalling” and “deeply worrying”.

Here’s what we know so far about what’s going on.

The stabbing occurred on the LNER train service from Doncaster to London’s King’s Cross station at 18.25 GMT on Saturday night.

Passengers reported that at least one man brandishing a knife began stabbing people on the train after the train stopped in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire.

Eyewitnesses told the BBC they felt panic and confusion.

Olly Foster, who was on the train, said he heard people passing over carriages shouting “run, a man is literally stabbing everyone and everything” and thought it might have been a Halloween-like prank.

Another passenger heard someone shout “Someone has a knife”

While some passengers hid in the toilets, others flocked to the front of the train.

At 7.39pm the train driver made an unplanned stop at Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, where dozens of armed police officers and emergency services swarmed the platform.

Witnesses said police used a stun gun on a man. Two people, whose identities have not yet been determined, were detained.

In total, the incident is estimated to last approximately 10 to 15 minutes.

The passengers, who were not injured, were interviewed by police and some boarded a bus to London.

Emergency crews took 10 people to hospital, nine of whom are believed to have life-threatening injuries, police said.

The identities of the victims are not yet known.

Witnesses described some of the victims, including a man who collapsed in pain on the platform, bleeding from his stomach.

Train passenger Wren Chambers told the BBC one man was stabbed in the arm and he got off the train to warn the others.

Olly Foster told the BBC that an elderly man suffered wounds to his head and neck after he “stopped” an attacker from stabbing a young girl, and passengers used their jackets to stop the bleeding.

London Underground worker Dean McFarlane told the BBC that multiple people were running across the platform covered in blood and a man in a white shirt was “completely covered in blood”.

London North Eastern Railway (LNER), which operates East Coast Mainline services in the UK, has issued the following appeal to passengers: Avoid traveling on Sunday, November 2.

Ticket holders who no longer plan to travel will be eligible for a full refund. Unused weekend LNER tickets will be valid until Tuesday, November 4.

The LNER has warned that Huntingdon station is not guaranteed to reopen on Sunday. The disruption to service between Stevenage and Peterborough will last all day.

Passengers can use their tickets on the following services at no extra cost:

• Avanti West Coast between London Euston, Manchester

• TransPennine Express between Manchester, Leeds and York/Newcastle

• ScotRail between Glasgow Central and Edinburgh Waverley

• North between Carlisle and Newcastle

• East Midlands Railway (EMR) between London St Pancras, Leicester and Sheffield.

• CrossCountry between Sheffield, Doncaster/Leeds, York and Newcastle/Edinburgh

• London Liverpool Street, Greater Anglia between Stevenage and Peterborough.

• Great Northern and Thameslink between London Kings Cross, Stevenage and Peterborough

• London Northwestern Railway services from Euston

LNER said delays were expected across the train system throughout Sunday, including on other services and operators in the East of England and London.

Thameslink tickets not used on Saturday will be valid on Sunday.

In a statement released early on Sunday morning, LNER Managing Director David Horne wrote that he was “deeply shocked and saddened by this serious incident” and thanked emergency services for their “swift and professional” response.