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Nine people were being treated for life-threatening injuries after a series of stabbings on a train near Cambridge in eastern England, and two men were arrested in what Keir Starmer called an “appalling incident”.
British Transport Police said counterterrorism police were supporting its investigation while it worked to establish the full circumstances and motivation for the incident on Saturday. A cabinet minister on Sunday said it is believed that it was an “isolated attack”.
The police force also said that “Plato”, the national code word used by police and emergency services when responding to what could be a “marauding terror attack”, was initiated. That declaration was later rescinded and no motive for the attack was disclosed.
“We’re conducting urgent inquiries to establish what has happened, and it could take some time before we are in a position to confirm anything further,” British Transport Police (BTP) chief superintendent Chris Casey said. “At this early stage it would not be appropriate to speculate on the causes of the incident.”
Cambridgeshire constabulary said armed police attended after officers were called to the scene at Huntingdon station at 7.39pm on Saturday.
“Armed officers attended and the train was stopped at Huntingdon, where two men were arrested,” the police said.
The East of England ambulance service has deployed a “large-scale response” to the incident. A spokesperson said numerous ambulances, tactical commanders and its hazardous area response team were at the scene, adding: “We can confirm we have transported multiple patients to hospital.”
One witness who was on the train recalled seeing someone move through the carriage warning others: “They’ve got a knife, I’ve been stabbed.”
The witness told Sky News the man was “extremely bloodied” and that by the time the train stopped “they were basically on the floor”.
“That person ended up collapsing on the floor. They were taken to an ambulance pretty much straight away,” he said.
Witnesses say people wounded by the attack were seen sprinting through the train away from somebody with a knife.
Later on, armed police were seen directing their weapons at a man standing on a platform with a large blade, a witness said. The man was then incapacitated with a taser and restrained.
One witness said they saw between six and eight people who were wounded, while another said up to 12 may have been injured.
Police said the attack happened on the 6.25pm train service from Doncaster to London King’s Cross, shortly after the LNER train left Peterborough station.
The prime minister said the incident was “deeply concerning” and urged people to follow police advice.
In a statement on X, Starmer said: “The appalling incident on a train near Huntingdon is deeply concerning. My thoughts are with all those affected, and my thanks go to the emergency services for their response. Anyone in the area should follow the advice of the police.”
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The MP for Huntingdon, Ben Obese-Jecty, said: “Very reassuring to see such a quick and effective response from the emergency services. I’ve simply never seen as big a response to an emergency incident as there were in terms of police, fire and ambulance.”
The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said she was “deeply saddened” to hear of the stabbings and added: “I urge people to avoid comment and speculation at this early stage.”
On Sunday morning, the defence secretary, John Healey, said “there’s no reason for the rest of us not to get on with our lives” as he described the early assessment of the mass stabbing as an “isolated attack”.
He told Sky News: “The early assessment is that this was an isolated incident, an isolated attack. So there’s no reason for the rest of us not to get on with our lives, get on and travel to the places we need to get to.
“But those sorts of conclusions, those further assessments and that information will be provided to the public as soon as we’ve got them.”
London North Eastern Railway (LNER), which operates east coast mainline services in the UK, confirmed the incident had happened on one of its trains and has urged passengers not to travel because of “major disruption”. Huntingdon station was closed, National Rail said, with all lines blocked.
LNER said: “We are experiencing major disruption across the LNER route. Emergency services are dealing with an incident at Huntingdon station; all lines are blocked. Our advice is ‘Do Not Travel’. Please defer your travel where you can.”
The LNER said disruption to services in the area was expected to last until Monday.
The shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, said that it “seems to be a brutal mass attack”. He added: “My thoughts are with all those injured or affected and the emergency services responding. The police and government should provide an update on what happened and who has been arrested as soon as possible.”
Cambridgeshire constabulary urged anyone with information about the incident to report it online, quoting incident 495 of 1 November, or by calling 101.
