A British man is being celebrated for his bravery after he intervened to save a young girl during a knife attack on a UK train over the weekend.
On Saturday, November 1, police and emergency teams were called to the train platform in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, following reports of a mass stabbing incident at around 7.39pm.
Reports indicate that ten individuals were injured by a man allegedly armed with a ‘large knife’ on a train headed to London from Peterborough, prompting an unscheduled stop.
Nine of those wounded reportedly suffered life-threatening injuries. However, Supt. John Loveless shared some hopeful news on Sunday, November 2, stating that four victims have since been released from the hospital.
Two individuals, unfortunately, remain in critical condition.
Armed officers subdued the suspected attacker using a Taser within eight minutes of receiving emergency calls.
Two suspects, a 32-year-old Black British national and a 35-year-old British national of Caribbean heritage, have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.
Survivors are now sharing their harrowing experiences of the chaotic attack, with one witness recounting how a courageous older man shielded a young girl from the assailant.
According to Olly Foster, the man, who remains unnamed, sustained injuries to his head and neck while protecting the girl.
He told the BBC: “By the time I got to the end of the carriage, I was actually at the back of it and there was about six of us.
“There was a girl, bless her, who was really really in a bit of state because the guy actually tried to stab her. And one of the older guys, who’s an absolute hero, blocked it with his head.
“We’re giving him jackets to keep the pressure on the blood.”
Foster added that from his vantage point in the carriage, people were pressing through the car, leaving trails of blood ‘all over the chair[s]’ as they attempted to escape the attacker.
When advised to ‘run’ by other passengers who warned him of a man ‘stabbing literally everyone and everything’, Foster initially thought it was a Halloween prank.
Passengers then found a bottle of Jack Daniel’s whiskey and reportedly used it in their defense against the suspect.
“We had a Jack Daniels bottle between us and that was it,” he continued. “So we’re sitting there with one Jack Daniels bottle looking down this carriage, praying someone doesn’t walk down with a knife or a gun.”
Another passenger, Gavin, shared with Sky News his experience upon hearing about a knifeman onboard, describing how he saw an ‘extremely bloodied’ passenger trying to escape the suspect.
“That person, when we pulled in, they were basically on the floor; we couldn’t progress further down the train because that person ended up collapsing.”
Gavin recounted how armed officers apprehended the suspect with a Taser once the train came to a halt.
The event is under investigation by counter-terrorism officials to determine the circumstances of the ‘major incident’, with police urging restraint and stating it would ‘not be appropriate to speculate on the causes of the incident’ at this time.
A Code Plato was declared initially, a national alert used in response to ‘marauding terror attacks,’ but this has been lifted.
UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called the ‘appalling incident’ ‘deeply concerning’ and expressed his thoughts for those affected, along with gratitude for the response of emergency services.