British police rule out terrorism as a motive in the train stabbing.

LondonEleven people were injured, two of them critically, in a knife attack on a train traveling from Doncaster, in northern England, the previous night. Initial reports indicated nine people were critically injured and one had minor injuries. However, four of the victims have since been discharged from Addenbrooke's Hospital, part of the Cambridge Biomedical University campus, where they were taken. Two suspects, both British nationals, were arrested in connection with the attack: a 32-year-old Black man and a 35-year-old man of Caribbean descent. One of them was released on Sunday. Superintendent John Loveless of the British Transport Police told a press conference that "nothing suggests this was a terrorist incident." Both suspects are being held in separate police stations, Loveless said. At the moment, the police have not commented on the motives for the attack. Passengers sounded the alarm shortly after passing through Peterborough station. The train eventually stopped in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, about 90 kilometers from the British capital, where it was not scheduled to stop. The emergency stop of the train led to more than 30 officers, including armed ones, occupying and cordoning off the station – in fact, it remains cordoned off at this time. According to one of the passengers who spoke to Sky News, at that moment on the platform, "a man with a large knife was restrained by police with a Taser."

The rejection of the terrorist attack hypothesis fits with the sequence of events that unfolded in the early hours of the morning. While the British Transport Police (BTP) initially declared the Plato code, a UK-wide code word indicating a terrorist attack, this alert was later canceled. In fact, early in the morning, BTP Superintendent Chris Casey stated that it was "not appropriate to speculate" on the causes of the incident.

The train, consisting of nine carriages, had departed its point of origin at 6:25 p.m. local time and was scheduled to arrive at King's Cross station shortly after 8:00 p.m. It is currently still on platform 2 at Doncaster station. This city is located in the county of South Yorkshire, not far from Sheffield and Leeds, about 270 kilometers north of London.

The first emergency call was received at 7:42 p.m. The incident caused scenes of panic among the passengers, as described early Sunday morning on the BBC by one of the train's passengers, Wren Chambers: "At first I heard shouting and sliding, two or three doors away. Another passenger and I looked at each other and immediately understood that something serious was happening. It happened a little later. He had a wound on his arm, bleeding heavily. He was shouting that he had been stabbed and that there was someone with a knife."

Chambers continued her account, stating that passengers began running towards the carriages in front seeking refuge: "We all piled up at the front. I saw a person very badly injured, with blood everywhere, and people trying to cover the wound with a sweatshirt. Someone next to them said that they were facing the music. Someone next to them said that their father was facing the music. Someone next to them said that they had stabbed them in the neck." According to her testimony, many passengers were trapped and unable to get off until the train stopped. When the young woman was able to get out, she and other passengers ran out of the station and took refuge in a nearby apartment building, where some residents gave them water and assistance while they waited for the police to pick them up.

Active police presence

At the moment, live images broadcast by British television networks show a large presence of forensic teams at the scene, while the train remains stopped at the station. Rail operator LNER warned of "serious disruptions" throughout the day and advised travelers not to travel until further notice.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the incident "deeply worrying" and sent a message of support to the injured. Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch also expressed her "shock" at what she described as an "absolutely horrific" attack. Other local political representatives have conveyed messages of solidarity with the victims and emergency services.