LONDON — Ten people remained in hospital on Sunday, nine of them with life-threatening injuries, after a mass stabbing attack spread fear and chaos on a London-bound train in eastern England, British police said. Two suspects were in custody and police said they were working to find a motive.
Details of the attack were sketchy. Bloodied passengers spilled out of the long-distance train when it made an emergency stop on Saturday in the town of Huntingdon, where dozens of police waited, soon after multiple stabbings were reported onboard.
Two people were arrested by armed officers at the station. Police have not identified the suspects or disclosed a motive, but said counterterror police are supporting the investigation.
Defense Secretary John Healey told Sky News that "the early assessment is that this was an isolated incident, an isolated attack."
British Transport Police said in a statement that "10 people have been taken to hospital with nine believed to have suffered life-threatening injuries.
"This has been declared a major incident and Counter Terrorism Policing are supporting our investigation whilst we work to establish the full circumstances and motivation for this incident," it added,
The police force said that "Plato," the national code word used by police and emergency services when responding to what could be a "marauding terror attack," was initiated. That declaration was later rescinded but no motive for the attack was disclosed.
"We're conducting urgent enquiries to establish what has happened, and it could take some time before we are in a position to confirm anything further," Chief Superintendent Chris Casey said. "At this early stage it would not be appropriate to speculate on the causes of the incident."
The attack took place as the train from Doncaster in northern England to London's King's Cross station was about halfway through its 2-hour journey and approaching Huntingdon, a market town a few miles northwest of the university city of Cambridge.
Passenger Olly Foster told the BBC he heard people shouting "run, run, there's a guy literally stabbing everyone," and initially thought it might have been a Halloween prank. But as passengers pushed past him to get away, he noticed his hand was covered in blood from a chair he had leaned on.
Emergency services, including armed police and air ambulances, responded quickly as the train drew into Huntingdon. The attack appears to have been contained swiftly after the train arrived at the station, and police officers wearing forensic suits, with a police dog, could be seen on the platform.
Cambridgeshire Constabulary, the local police force, said officers were called at 7:39 p.m. on Saturday to the scene, about 75 miles (120 kilometers) north of London. Police were at the station within minutes.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his "thoughts are with all those affected" after the "appalling incident."
Paul Bristow, the mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said he had heard of "horrendous scenes" on the train.
London North Eastern Railway, or LNER, which operates the East Coast Mainline services in the U.K., confirmed the incident had happened on one of its trains and said there would be major disruption on the route until Monday.
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