A hero has been praised for protecting a young girl in a horrific knife attack.
Nine people were left fighting for their life after a mass stabbing on a train from Doncaster to London last night (1 November).
Two people were arrested after it was stopped at Huntingdon station, as it’s said a man with a large knife is understood to have been stunned with a Taser by police.
As the Defence Secretary describes it as an ‘isolated attack’, counter-terrorism police are assisting with the investigation as details of whether or not it was a terror-related attack will be provided as soon as the Government has it.
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British Transport Police (BTP) declared a major incident, with a 10th person suffering non-life-threatening injured and no fatalities reported.
And witnesses have since spoken out about the horror events that unfolded after the high-speed train left Peterborough last night.
Olly Foster was a passenger onboard and described ‘pure panic’ aboard the train.
Having heard people shouting ‘run, run, there's a guy literally stabbing everyone’, he initially thought it might have been a Halloween prank.
But it soon became terrifyingly clear that it wasn't a prank, with reports estimating the attack lasted about 10 to 15 minutes, but ‘felt like forever’.
Foster added that an older man ‘blocked’ the attacker from stabbing a younger girl, which left him with a gash on his head and neck.
Wren Chambers was also onboard the train, who too thought it was ‘some kind of Halloween prank’.
The passenger also recalled: “There was a girl who was nearer to where the stabbings happened and she said the man on the floor stepped in front of her and got stabbed to the neck with multiple other injuries.”
It is said people on board tried to use items of clothing to stem the bleeding from those injured.
The man’s condition and identity is currently not known.
Other witnesses have spoken of seeing a man with a large knife with passengers hiding in toilets and running through the carriages to the other end of the train in order to escape the rampage.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described the ‘appalling’ incident as ‘deeply concerning’.
British Transport Police released a statement in the early hours of Sunday morning, stating: "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."
Jess Battison