British suspect, 32, remains in custody over Huntingdon train stabbing

 A rail staff member is still fighting for his life and a British man remains in police custody after a knife attack unleashed horror on a London-bound train, leaving 11 injured.

British Transport Police (BTP) have said there is “nothing to suggest” the rampage, thought to be one of Britain’s largest mass stabbings, is terror-related.

Two men were arrested by armed officers within eight minutes of the first 999 call at 7.42pm on Saturday after the train made an emergency stop at Huntingdon station in Cambridgeshire.

A 32-year-old man from Peterborough has since been confirmed by police as the sole suspect and remains in custody on suspicion of attempted murder. A 35-year-old man from London who was also detained at the scene has been released with no further action.

A man with a large knife is believed to have been brought down with a Taser by officers responding to the attack, which began shortly after the high-speed London North Eastern Railway (LNER) train left Peterborough station at 7.30pm.

Police said there have been no fatalities, and five victims have now been discharged from hospital following the stabbings on the 6.25pm service from Doncaster to London King’s Cross.

One person, a member of LNER rail staff who was on the train at the time and tried to stop the attacker, remains in a life-threatening condition. “It is clear his actions were nothing short of heroic and undoubtedly saved many people’s lives,” BTP added in a statement.

Sir Keir Starmer said the “appalling” incident was “deeply concerning”, while the King paid tribute to first responders, adding that he was “truly appalled and shocked to hear of the dreadful knife attack”.

Home secretary Shabana Mahmood confirmed the incident is not being treated as terrorism as she praised the “exceptional bravery of staff and passengers on the train”.

BTP said at one point police declared “Plato”, the national code word used by police and emergency services when responding to a “marauding terror attack”, but this was later rescinded.

In an update on Sunday morning, Superintendent John Loveless said: “British Transport Police declared a major incident yesterday, and counter-terrorism policing were initially supporting our investigation.

“However, at this stage, there is nothing to suggest that this is a terrorist incident.”

He added: “We continue work to establish the full circumstances and motivation for this incident. At this early stage it would not be appropriate to speculate on the causes of the incident.”

Supt Loveless said 11 people had been treated in hospital, including nine with serious injuries.

Horrified witnesses recalled fleeing in terror and hiding in the toilets after seeing an attacker armed with a large knife.

Dayna Arnold, 48, revealed she begged the knifeman to spare her life as he stood over her with a six-inch blade after she was separated from her partner in the panic.

“I was running and when I looked back I saw the knifeman running after me,” the project manager told The Mirror.

“I fell down and I just said, ‘Please don’t kill me’. Something shifted in his face and he just carried on.”

Her partner, Andy Gray, 37, used his belt as a tourniquet to help a young man who was bleeding profusely from a wound on his arm.

He added: “I still have [the victim’s] blood on my jumper. I heard there were two people critical so I hope we saved his life.”

Alistair Day, 53, said some passengers barricaded themselves in the buffet car after bloodied victims ran down the train, before seeing “a man at the window with his knife”.

One man is believed to have gone to try to confront the attacker, but was later seen lying on the train platform “covered in blood”, he told the BBC.

Others were left terrified after being warned to “keep yourself safe” in an announcement on the train’s tannoy.

A father, who was at the other end of the train with his two children, said it was “scary to hear”, adding: “It was just unnerving not knowing what was happening and knowing you were basically in a box, and you couldn’t get out of it.”

Another passenger, who had been listening to music and scrolling through football news on his phone, dropped his things and fled.

When he turned his head, he could make out a man armed with a bloodied knife following them through the moving train.

He said: “The thing that was in my mind was we’re running through this train now, but what if we run out of carriages to run through? What if we reach the end of the train? What happens there?”

Footage taken by a taxi driver outside Huntingdon station appears to show a suspect shouting “kill me, kill me” before armed officers discharged a Taser and pinned him to the ground.

Olly Foster told the BBC he initially thought it was a Halloween prank when he heard people shouting, “run, run, there’s a guy literally stabbing everyone”. But when he leaned on a chair as he made his way through the carriage, he found it soaked in blood.

An older man “blocked” the attacker from stabbing a younger girl, leaving him with injuries to his head and neck, Mr Foster said, adding that other passengers used their clothing to try and stem the bleeding.

Quick-thinking train crew made the decision to divert to the nearest station at Huntingdon, where armed officers from Cambridgeshire Constabulary and emergency responders were waiting on the platform.

The rapid response comes after BTP carried out an emergency training exercise in March, which simulated such a knife attack, according to reports.

Huntingdon railway station remained taped off by police on Sunday as forensic teams scoured the train, which is still visible on the station platform.

Speaking on Sky News, 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 incident as “isolated”.

Supt Loveless said: “This is a shocking incident and my thoughts are with those who have been injured and their families.”

Passengers can expect to see increased numbers of police officers at stations and on trains over the coming days to reassure the public, he added.

The MP for Huntingdon, Ben Obese-Jecty, called the incident “appalling and devastating”.

“My thoughts are with all those victims who were injured during this heinous attack,” he wrote on social media platform X.

“I would like to pay tribute to the incredible and immediate response of the emergency services, particularly the Response Officers from Cambridgeshire Constabulary who were first to arrive on the scene.”

LNER, which operates East Coast Mainline services in the UK, said disruption to its services between London King’s Cross and Lincoln, Doncaster, Leeds, Bradford Forster Square and Harrogate was expected to last until Monday, with passengers advised to defer their travel where possible.