Two British nationals confirmed as suspects in train stabbings

British Transport Police declared a major incident and said two people were arrested after the train was stopped at Huntingdon station

Emergency responders at Huntingdon station in Cambridgeshire (Chris Radburn/PA)

Two men born in Britain are suspected of carrying out the Huntingdon train knife attack, which is not believed to have been motivated by terrorism, police have said.

British Transport Police (BTP) said two people remain in a life-threatening condition following the bloody rampage on a high-speed train on Saturday evening.

Superintendent John Loveless said one suspect is a black British national and the other is a British national of Caribbean descent. Both men, aged 32 and 35, were born in the UK.

The force declared a major incident and said the pair were arrested after the 6.25pm train service from Doncaster to London King’s Cross was stopped at Huntingdon station.

Forensic officers on the platform by the train at Huntingdon station (Chris Radburn/PA)

Police also declared “Plato”, the national code word used by police and emergency services when responding to a “marauding terror attack”, before the declaration was later rescinded.

There have been no fatalities so far from the stabbings on the 6.25pm train service from Doncaster to London King’s Cross, with the British prime minister Keir Starmer describing the incident as “deeply concerning”.

The attack is believed to have happened shortly after the service departed Peterborough station.

It is unclear when the two suspects got on the train, with police also not confirming where the pair were from.

And although terrorism has been ruled out, police are still working on uncovering the motive for the attacks and have insisted that “at this early stage it would not be appropriate to speculate on the causes of the incident”.

A 10th person suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Mr Loveless said 11 people had been treated in hospital, and after nine originally presented with life-threatening injuries, four have now been discharged.

Commenting on whether the incident was terrorism, he told reporters: “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.” Mr Loveless said armed police officers and paramedics attended Huntingdon station and boarded the train, arresting the two suspects within eight minutes of the 999 call being made.

Speaking on Sky News on Sunday morning, British 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”.

Addressing whether or not the incident was terror-related, he told the broadcaster: “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.”

Counter-terrorism police are assisting with the investigation.

Mr Healey added that the British public should be “more vigilant”, but said people are “not going to be deflected from carrying out our everyday lives”.

Huntingdon railway station remained taped off by police on Sunday morning – with the train still visible on the platform.

Armed police were despatched to the scene (Chris Radburn/PA)

A number of officers were positioned around the station and the road directly outside the station’s car park, the A1307, was shut with a number of police vehicles are on the road.

The Times newspaper said witnesses had spoken of seeing a man with a large knife and passengers hiding in the toilets to escape the rampage.

One man, who gave his name as Gavin, told Sky News he believed he saw the suspect tasered before he was arrested.

Olly Foster, who also witnessed the incident, told the BBC an older man “blocked” the attacker from stabbing a younger girl, leaving him with injuries to his head and neck.

Mr Foster told the broadcaster other passengers used their clothing to try and stem the bleeding.

Video footage on social media showed scores of blue-light police cars and emergency vehicles in a station car park before the suspect was arrested, and a team of armed police running towards the stationary train at Huntingdon station.

The attack is understood to have started shortly after the London North Eastern Railway (LNER) train left Peterborough station.

LNER, which operates East Coast Mainline services in the UK, said disruption to its services between London Kings 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.