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Britain was shocked by a mass stabbing attack on a train Saturday evening that targeted passengers as they traveled through central England on their way to London, in an incident Prime Minister Keir Starmer has described as “deeply concerning.”
Nine people were left with life-threatening injuries, one of whom was still fighting for his life in hospital on Sunday evening, after what the British Transport Police (BTP) declared a “major incident.”
Though two suspected attackers were initially detained within minutes of police receiving their first emergency call, BTP said on Sunday evening that only one person is now being treated as a suspect.
A 32-year-old British man remains in police custody after being arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, the authority said, adding that a 35-year-old British national of Caribbean descent has been released with no further action.
Police are working to determine a motive but previously said that there is no evidence to suggest the attack is terror-related.
Here’s what we know about the stabbing attack.
What happened?
The high-speed London North Eastern Railway (LNER) train departed from the northern city of Doncaster at 6.25 p.m. local time on Saturday evening, bound for London.
The train had just left Peterborough station in Cambridgeshire when the attack took place.
Passenger Wren Chambers told the BBC she initially “heard some screaming and shouting” coming from a carriage or two down, before a man ran down the train with a “very clear wound,” bleeding heavily from his arm.
After seeing more people running past, Chambers grabbed her bag and coat. “I got up and moved forward down the train after them, trying to get (as) far down the train as they can.”
People fled through the carriages seeking safety, with some attempting to barricade themselves in the train’s toilets, said other witnesses who saw train seats soaked in blood.
Belongings of escaping passengers are seen on the ground at the entrance to the train station on Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025, after a mass stabbing on a London-bound train in Huntingdon, England, the night before. Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP
Police received their first emergency call at approximately 7.42 p.m. local time and immediately deployed armed officers. Within eight minutes of the first call, the two initial suspects were arrested after the train made an unplanned stop at Huntingdon station.
Armed police officers were seen running down the platform at the station, evacuating passengers while looking to neutralize any ongoing threat, British news agency PA Media reported.
One eyewitness, who gave his name as Gavin, described seeing one of the men who was initially suspected of being an attacker getting struck down by a police Taser. “Essentially, as they got closer to him, started shouting, like, ‘get down get down’… I think it was a Taser that got him down in the end,” he told Sky News.
The train remained at Huntingdon station Sunday morning, with medical equipment and other debris seen strewn on the platform.
Who are the victims?
A total of 11 victims received treatment in hospital. Ten people were taken to the hospital by ambulance, nine of whom were in life-threatening condition, while another person later self-presented that evening.
As of Sunday evening, one person remains in hospital in life-threatening condition, BTP said. The man, an LNER staff member who was on the train, had “tried to stop the attacker,” it added.
“Detectives have reviewed the CCTV from the train and it is clear his actions were nothing short of heroic and undoubtedly saved many people’s lives,” the statement continued.
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