How horrific Huntingdon train knife attack unfolded minute-by-minute | UK | News
High-speed train stopped in Huntingdon on Saturday night (Chris Radburn/PA) (Image: PA Tel/PA Images)
When passengers boarded the 6.25pm rush hour train from Doncaster to King’s Cross, many were eager to arrive in London less than two hours later; But the train could never get that far.
The LNER journey was going as planned and a mass stabbing began occurring just after leaving Peterborough station at 7.30pm on Saturday.
The usual roar of the Saturday night train has become louder and more confusing for Olly Foster, who told the BBC that when he heard people shouting “run, run, a man is literally stabbing everyone” he thought it might be a cruel Halloween prank.
He didn’t know it yet, but 10 people would be hospitalized in what would become one of the biggest mass stabbings in England.
After a man with a large knife ran through the carriage, passengers were seen hiding in train toilets to escape the attack, The Times reported.
A forensic investigator on the platform next to the train at Huntingdon railway station (Joe Giddens/PA) (Image: PA Tel/PA Images)
An eyewitness told the newspaper there was “blood everywhere” and increasing distress as people tried to flee to safety.
The emergency alarm was activated and the train driver brought the Class 800 Azuma to a stop in the quiet Cambridgeshire town of Huntingdon.
The chaos was unfolding alarmingly slowly, according to Mr Foster, who told BBC News the incident “felt like it was going on forever”.
At first he did not notice the blood on the red sofa fabric, but as people began to panic he saw that his hand was “covered in blood”.
There was “blood everywhere on the chair” he was leaning on.
(PA Graphics) (Image: PA Graphics/Press Association Images)
One of the victims is thought to be an elderly man. Mr Foster said he saw a young girl deliberately step into the attacker’s path to protect her from a knife, and in doing so suffered head and neck injuries.
A passenger who gave his name as Gavin told Sky News he saw an “extremely bloody” victim slumped on the floor of the carriage.
Two of the injured continue to fight for life in the hospital.
Cambridgeshire Constabulary police were called at 7.39pm and British Transport Police (BTP) arrived at 7.42pm.
Eight minutes after BTP was searched, two suspects were captured by armed police.
Sirens wailed throughout the November night as ambulance crews and fire brigades were also called to the scene; Huntingdon MP Ben Obese-Jecty said he had “never seen such a big reaction” to an incident.
Armed police were seen running on the platform at the station, trying to evacuate passengers safely and neutralize any ongoing threats.
A suspect is believed to have been shot by police with a stun gun following the bloody attack.
“In fact, as they got closer to him they started shouting ‘get down’,” one passenger told Sky News.
“He then brandished a fairly large knife and they then took him into custody.
Two people have been arrested in connection with the incident (Chris Radburn/PA) (Image: PA Tel/PA Images)
“I think it was the stun gun that finally brought him down.”
Forensic officers in white overalls were seen taking photographs of the scene where two men were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder on Saturday night.
The train was still stationary in Huntingdon on Sunday morning while the suspects, a 32-year-old black British citizen and a 35-year-old British citizen of Caribbean origin, were questioned at separate police stations.
Emergency services at the scene are trying to figure out exactly what happened.
