Witnesses who were onboard when the Huntingdon train ‘terror’ attack unfolded have recalled the terrifying moment a victim came running down the carriage screaming ‘someone’s got a knife’.
Two people have been arrested after a knife rampage on a London North Eastern Railway (LNER) Doncaster to London King’s Cross train saw 10 people rushed to hospital with stab wounds.
British Transport Police received reports of the incident at 7.42pm yesterday before rushing to the scene in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, where armed officers boarded the train and detained the two suspects.
Passenger Olly Foster, who was in coach H, described how he was listening to an audiobook when a man ‘suddenly ran past screaming “Run! Run! There’s a guy stabbing literally everyone and everything”.’
Mr Foster said he and some other passengers thought it was a ‘joke’ or a ‘Halloween prank’ at first but ‘quickly realised they were serious’ by the look on their face.
He explained how his hand was ‘covered in blood’ after he put it on a chair as he ran through the carriage.
‘There was blood on the top of countless chairs, coming from 2 of the guys who had been severely stabbed ahead of me,’ he said.
‘A young girl was distraught as the attacker tried to stab her, but a hero of an older man got in the way taking a gash on his forehead and I think another on his neck.’
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Witnesses who were onboard when the Huntingdon train ‘terror’ attack unfolded have recalled the terrifying moment a victim came running down the carriage screaming ‘someone’s got a knife’ (Pictured: The train still parked on the platform this morning)
A police officer stands guard at Huntingdon Station this morning where people’s belongings lay scattered on the ground
Passenger Olly Foster, who was in coach H, described how he was listening to an audiobook when a man ‘suddenly ran past screaming “Run! Run! There’s a guy stabbing literally everyone and everything”‘
Mr Foster and the other horrified passengers ran to the end of the short train and queued up where he and a few others tried to find a weapon to defend themselves with in case the attackers came.
One person, who Mr Foster knew, had a Jack Daniel’s bottle which he armed himself with.
Mr Foster said: ‘I knew he had a knife from everyone’s wounds but from somebody’s previous comments there was a chance he had a gun. So I stood there praying.
‘We all tried to keep calm but you could feel everyone’s adrenaline.’
He said the train eventually stopped moving and everyone ran off, adding: ‘As I ran out, I looked to my right knowing that’s where the attacker would come and that’s when I saw about 20 people running in pure panic.
‘At least 3 of which were covered in blood. One guy was holding his stomach of which blood was pouring out, shouting, “help help, I’ve been stabbed”.’
Mr Foster recalled how helpless he and the other passengers felt ‘being completely unarmed against an attacker or attackers that we thought had a gun’.
‘I’m not sure how travelling on trains will feel after this. I haven’t really processed it all. It felt genuinely surreal and is something I don’t wish anyone to experience.
‘Knowing somebody has weapons and you have nothing, knowing they’re willing to strike woman and I think children. It wasn’t the England I grew up in. That was barbaric.’
Wren Chambers, who was also onboard, told the BBC she heard shouting coming from a carriage or two down.
She added: ‘Then a minute or two later, a man comes running down with a very clear wound bleeding quite badly on his arm and I thought it was a Halloween prank at first but then he was shouting that someone’s got a knife, he was stabbed.
‘Then a few more people came running down the train and I grabbed my bag and my coat then I got up and moved forward down the train after them and then it just ended up all the passengers along the train just packing forwards.’
Wren Chambers, who was also onboard, told the BBC she heard shouting coming from a carriage or two down
Police officers and emergency personnel work at the scene on Sunday morning following the mass stabbing on Saturday evening
Objects lie scattered on the ground at Huntingdon Station following a series of stabbings on a train
Armed forces rushing to the scene where several people on a train travelling through Cambridgeshire were stabbed
Ms Chambers said she ‘saw someone who was very badly injured lots of blood around them’ who looked like they were ‘either collapsed or about to fall over’.
‘People were trying to pass back hoodies to pack the wound,’ she added.
The brave passenger made sure someone called the emergency services.
She said: ‘There was a girl next to me who was near where the first stabbings happened. She said the man on the floor stepped in front of her and then got stabbed in the neck.
‘We all just got of the train as calmly as possible as we were like there’s no point piling on to each other. We knew the attacker was likely to still be on the train further down the line.’
The force has declared the attack a ‘major incident’ and is probing the stabbing spree alongside counter-terrorism police.
Police had at one point declared Code Plato, a word used by police and emergency services when responding to a ‘marauding terror attack’.
However, this declaration was later rescinded, BTP confirmed.
Thirty officers rushed to the London North Eastern Railway (LNER) Doncaster to London King’s Cross service after it stopped in the Cambridgeshire town. The attack is believed to have begun shortly after the train left Peterborough.
Passengers are said to have hid in toilets as one suspect carried a ‘big knife’, witnesses said, while others claimed they were trampled on as distressed passengers attempted to flee the chaos.
Armed police descended on the platform and ‘tasered a man waving a large knife’, bystanders also claimed.
The force has declared the attack a ‘major incident’ and is probing the stabbing spree alongside counter-terrorism police (Pictured: The train sitting at the platform on Sunday morning)
Police had at one point declared Code Plato, a word used by police and emergency services when responding to a ‘marauding terror attack’. However, this declaration was later rescinded, BTP confirmed (Pictured: Police patrolling the station on Sunday morning)
Police raced to Huntingdon Station after several people were stabbed on a train in the area of Huntingdon on Saturday
Videos also emerged on social media showing police cars racing to the scene as armed officers raced to the platform at around 7.42pm on Saturday.
Chief Superintendent Chris Casey said: ‘This is a shocking incident and first and foremost my thoughts are with those who have been injured this evening and their families.
‘We’re conducting urgent enquiries to establish what has happened, and it could take some time before we are in a position to confirm anything further. At this early stage it would not be appropriate to speculate on the causes of the incident.
‘Our response is ongoing at the station and will be for some time. Cordons are in place and trains are not currently running through the area, and there are also some road closures.
‘I thank the public for their patience and their cooperation this evening which has already greatly assisted our policing response. We will update you again as soon as we have more information.’
A passenger named Gavin recalled several people moving through the train during the horror attack, while hearing one say: ‘They’ve got a knife. I have been stabbed.’
‘They were making their way through to get away from the suspect,’ he told Sky News. ‘They were extremely bloodied.
‘That person, when we pulled in, they were basically on the floor; we couldn’t progress further down the train because that person ended up collapsing.’
‘We were ushered out of the station from the platform, and there were multiple people who had been stabbed who were making their way down.’
Passengers were then escorted off the train onto the platform at Huntingdon, he said.
‘The armed police were pointing to the suspect as we came off the train.’
Train operator LNER issued a ‘do not travel’ warning to passengers, saying ‘disruption is expected until the end of the day’.
Police cars and Ambulances are pictured outside Huntingdon Station in Cambridgeshire
Emergency services were still scouring the scene in the hours after the attack
Passenger Gavin recalled several people moving through the train, and hearing one say, ‘They’ve got a knife. I have been stabbed’
In the hours after the attack, forensic officers could be seen apparently searching for clues on the track at the side of the train, which still had its lights on.
White-suited specialist officers, including one with a dog were seen entering the station as a police drone hovered overhead.
Another member of the force, also with a police dog, was seen carrying out a sweep of the main station car park.
Eight police vans arrived and parked in a line outside the station shortly before midnight, bringing yet more officers to the scene.
Several people who had left cars in the car park were allowed to retrieve their vehicles.
Two air ambulances responded to the scene, while other paramedics and emergency service personnel were also seen on the platform beside the train.
More than a dozen police, ambulance and incident support vehicles including several with blue flashing lights remained gathered in the main car park of the station.
Another four police cars blocked entrances to the car parks either side of the tracks to stop onlookers from approaching.
A large group of officers were seen outside the entrance to the main station beside what appeared to be a pile of first aid equipment.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described the ‘appalling’ incident near Huntingdon as ‘deeply concerning’.
‘My thoughts are with all those affected, and my thanks go to the emergency services for their response,’ he said in a statement.
‘Anyone in the area should follow the advice of the police.’
The A1307 in the direction of the town centre was closed as the incident remained ongoing, Cambridgeshire Constabulary said.
A passengers belongings are seen through the window as emergency services attend to Huntingdon Station on November 2
A passenger left their laptop open on the train as they fled during the chaos of the knife rampage
Elsewhere, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she was ‘deeply saddened’ by the stabbings.
‘My thoughts go out to all those affected. Two suspects have been immediately arrested and taken into custody,’ she said.
‘I am receiving regular updates on the investigation. I urge people to avoid comment and speculation at this early stage.’
Secretary of State Heidi Alexander echoed her colleagues’ messages while adding that she was being updated on the matter and is working closely with the police.
Tory Party leader Kemi Badenoch said: ‘Deeply disturbed by the reports emerging from Huntingdon.
‘This is an absolutely horrific attack and my thoughts are with all those affected, including the emergency responders at the scene.’
Chris Philip, the shadow Home Secretary, added: ‘Horrific scenes in Huntingdon, in what seems to be a brutal mass attack by two perpetrators,’ he said.
‘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.’
Local Labour councillor Alex Bulat voiced her sympathies for those affected amid ongoing reports.
‘Really worrying,’ she wrote to Facebook, ‘My thoughts are with the victims and their families.’
Huntingdon MP Ben Obese-Jecty also told Sky News he had ‘never seen as big a response’ to an emergency incident at the scene of the attack.
‘I think the swiftness of the response and the number of police who were on the scene when I arrived was simply staggering.’
He described the force’s response as ‘very reassuring’ but also ‘terrifying that this incident has occurred in this area.’
Paul Bristow, the Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said in a statement: ‘I am shocked and deeply concerned by this extremely serious incident on a train which was stopped in Huntingdon this evening.
‘My first thoughts are with the victims, their families, and everyone affected. I want to thank the emergency services, including the police, ambulance crews, and critical care teams, who are responding in what appear to be distressing circumstances.
‘Our community will rightly be anxious tonight, and I am seeking further information with relevant authorities as the situation becomes clearer.
‘I know people across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough will join me in keeping all those impacted in our thoughts.’
Armed Police officers stand with members of the emergency services outside Huntingdon station
Paramedics medical equipment is pictured in side a police cordon outside the station following the attack
The LNER train sat on the platform at Huntingdon station following the attack on Saturday evening
An aerial view of the train station as well as the major police presence at the scene on Saturday night
A BTP spokesperson: ‘We can confirm that at 7.42pm today (1 November) British Transport Police were called to reports of a multiple stabbing on board the 6.25pm train service from Doncaster to London King’s Cross.
‘Officers immediately attended Huntingdon station alongside paramedics.
‘Armed police from Cambridgeshire Police boarded the train and arrested two people in connection to the incident who have been taken to police custody.
‘Ten people have been taken to hospital with nine believed to have suffered life-threatening injuries. One is being treated for non-life-threatening injuries. There have been no fatalities.
‘This has been declared a major incident and Counter Terrorism Policing are supporting our investigation whilst we work to establish the full circumstances and motivation for this incident.’
Anyone with information has been urged to contact the BTP by texting 61016 quoting reference 663 of 01/11/25.
A Cambridgeshire Police statement said: ‘Two men have been arrested by police this evening after more than 30 officers were called to Huntingdon Train Station.
‘We were called at 7.39pm with reports that multiple people had been stabbed on a train.
‘Armed officers attended and the train was stopped at Huntingdon, where two men were arrested. A number of people have been taken to hospital.
‘The incident remains ongoing and the A1307 has been closed as you approach the town centre.’
A white-suited forensic officer at car park of Huntingdon station after 10 were hospitalised in a knife rampage on a train
Emergency responders on the tracks by the train at Huntingdon station in Cambridgeshire
In the hours after the attack, forensic officers could be seen apparently searching for clues on the track at the side of the train which still had its lights on
An East England Ambulance Service spokesperson said: ‘We were called at 7.38pm to reports that multiple people had been stabbed on a train.
‘We mobilised a large-scale response to Huntingdon Railway Station which included numerous ambulances, tactical commanders, our Hazardous Area Response Team and critical care teams, including the East Anglian Air Ambulance, Essex and Herts Air Ambulance and Magpas Air Ambulance
‘We can confirm we have transported multiple patients to hospital.’
David Horne, Managing Director of LNER, said: ‘We are deeply shocked and saddened by this serious incident, and our thoughts are very much with everyone involved.
‘I would like to thank the emergency services for their quick and professional response and the care they have provided to those injured. Anyone with information who hasn’t already spoken to police is urged to contact British Transport Police.
‘The safety and wellbeing of everyone affected will remain our priority. We will continue to do everything we can to support our customers and colleagues during this difficult time.’
A statement from the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) on social media said: ‘We are horrified by the mass stabbing attack on an LNER train last night.
‘Our thoughts remain with the train crew and passengers who were either at work or going about their business on a busy Saturday night during this awful incident.
‘It is important we allow the emergency services and authorities to establish the full facts before commenting further.’
Elsewhere, several train routes were impacted, including Hull Trains to Hull and LNER trains to Lincoln, Doncaster, Leeds, Bradford Forster Square, and Harrogate.
Thameslink trains between Horsham, Kings Cross and Peterborough were also affected.
