‘It felt like forever’: passengers recount mass stabbing on Cambridgeshire train | UK news

The train to London on Saturday evening was crowded but arrived on time. There was less than an hour left for those heading to the capital to leave Peterborough station shortly after 7.30pm.

However, this extraordinary sight quickly turned into horror as the bloodied passengers escaped from the wagons and took refuge in the toilet cabins.

For many on the LNER Azuma train from Doncaster, the first indication that something was very wrong came with an announcement over the train’s Tannoy.

“We are aware there has been an incident, just keep yourself safe,” a staff member said. Considering the season, others had initially assumed the commotion was a late-Halloween prank.

But the horrific truth of the mass stabbing, which took place in a closed area, soon emerged and by the time the train reached Huntingdon station, 10 people were being taken to hospital. Two of them were still fighting for their lives Sunday.

Police later announced that two British men, aged 32 and 35, had been arrested and held in custody on suspicion of attempted murder.

As the night progressed, passengers and witnesses began to describe 14 minutes of horror that occurred before an unscheduled stop in Huntingdon, 20 miles away.

For Olly Foster, the bloody handprints left behind by those passing through the carriage led to the realization that something terrible had occurred.

“A man suddenly ran past us: ‘Run, run. A man is literally stabbing everyone and everything,'” Foster told the BBC. “At first a few of us were looking at each other thinking it was a joke. He might be joking like it’s Halloween. But then you could see on their faces that they were serious.”

He added: “Panic had now set in as passengers began pouring in from the direction where the attack was believed to have started.

“I put my hand on this chair as if I’m trying to push myself forward, and then I look at my hand, it’s covered in blood.”

Passengers were now hiding in the toilets and the emergency alarm was activated. According to standard protocols, the train would not stop until it reached the next station.

For Foster, it “felt like it was going on forever” when he encountered the victims. These included an elderly man who deliberately stepped into the attacker’s path to protect a young girl from a knife and suffered head and neck injuries while doing so.

Another passenger, who gave his name as Gavin, told Sky News he saw an “extremely bloody” victim slumped on the floor of the carriage.

“I was on the G bus and a lot of people were coming. I was wearing my headphones, but I heard one of the people coming say, ‘There are knives. I was stabbed,'” he added.

Eventually that person collapsed, preventing Gavin and the others from continuing.

Foster said he and other passengers reached the end of the carriage, becoming even more alarmed by rumors that a gun was involved. The group of six people was also trying to stop the blood flowing from the head of the old man who was said to have saved the girl.

“We were just looking at the end of this carriage, praying that someone wouldn’t come down with a knife, a gun,” he added.

By now police were already scrambling after an initial call was made to Cambridgeshire Constabulary at 7.39pm.

British Transport Police (BTP) were on the road before the train approached Huntingdon station at 19.44 after the driver switched to the slow route.

Eight minutes after the call to BTP, two suspects were captured by armed police.

Footage was recorded of the moment armed police were seen running on the platform of the town’s small station; A clip has also emerged showing a man being tasered.

According to an eyewitness, a man was heard shouting “kill me, kill me” as he was held down by police.

As others subdued the man, one officer shouted “Give me your hands now” and another officer ran towards him with a dog.

One passenger told Sky News: “He [the suspect] He was brandishing a fairly large knife and then they took him into custody. “I think it was a stun gun that finally took him down.”

The first news from authorities on Saturday came at 8.47pm, with BTP saying on social media that they were “currently responding to an incident where multiple people were stabbed on a train bound for Huntingdon”.

Emergency services arrived en masse in Huntingdon as people living near the station heard the sirens.

“It felt like it was going on forever, but the train just kind of stopped,” Foster said. Like the other passengers, he had no idea where they stood and was initially reluctant to get off. “I look to my right and see 20 people in pure panic. Three people are bleeding heavily and one man is clutching his stomach, bleeding from his stomach and leg, and he’s saying: ‘Help, help me. I’ve been stabbed.'”

Helping each other but sometimes staying together in groups for protection, passengers ran out of the station without stopping until they reached the car park.

At 22:00, the seriousness of the incident was emphasized with the response from Keir Starmer.

The Prime Minister described the incident as “appalling” and “deeply worrying” but, like others, was careful with his language. At one point previously, Cambridgeshire police had declared “Plato” the national code word used by emergency services when responding to a “marauding terror attack”, but later rescinded this.

As dawn broke on Sunday morning, the Azuma train stopped at Huntingdon station. Photographers and cameras were kept behind a cordon that started from the car park, while forensic officers combed the bloody interior of the train.

Discarded debris, whether passenger belongings or packaging for medical supplies, was visible outside the station gate.