A woman who endured a terrifying assault on a UK train has shared the chilling interaction she had with the alleged attacker while she pleaded for her life.
On Saturday, November 1, police swiftly responded to a London-bound train at 7.39pm following reports of a knife-wielding individual moving through the carriages.
The train’s driver is thought to have acted promptly when informed about the stabbing spree shortly after departing Peterborough. The train made an unplanned stop at a platform in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, where both passengers and the alleged attacker were met by numerous emergency responders.
Armed officers subdued the suspect using a taser and apprehended two men in their 30s; however, one has been released without further charges.
The incident left as many as 11 people injured, requiring hospital care, with nine initially reported to be in critical condition.
As of Sunday, November 2, authorities confirmed that one individual, believed to be a train staff member who attempted to stop the attack, remains in a critical life-threatening state.
Stories from eyewitnesses and survivors of the traumatic event are beginning to surface, including accounts from friends Danya Arnold and Andy Gray, who recounted how they narrowly escaped the attacker while one aided a severely injured young man.
Danya recounted to the Sun how she was in the same carriage as the attacker, witnessing him target ‘anyone he could find’ with his knife.
Amid the chaos, the 48-year-old found herself face-to-face with the suspect.
“I was going with the crowd but then I got knocked into some seats,” she explained.
“I looked back and saw the knifeman running so I slid down to the floor.”
The site manager continued, “He came at me with the knife and I begged ‘please don’t.’”
“Then something shifted in his face and he just carried on. I feel very fortunate to still be alive,” she reflected.
Her encounter with the suspect did not end there, as she claims he made a chilling statement to her.
“Then a minute or so later he came back through,” Danya continued, “looked at me again and said ‘the devil’s not going to win’ and continued on.”
“I was waiting cause I could still hear him in the carriage. I heard the doors open and ran off the train.”
Soon after, she observed him running until police apprehended and tasered him ‘by the taxi rank.’
Meanwhile, Andy found himself still covered in blood after using his belt as a makeshift tourniquet for a young victim when speaking to the outlet.
The project manager described witnessing a ‘sudden commotion’ and a ‘huge knife plunging into people’ while ordering drinks and food.
Separated from Danya, Andy encountered a young man in his late teens or early 20s.
He recalled, “A young lad there was only 19 or 20 and had been cut and stabbed really badly. He had a gash on his arm and had several puncture wounds under his arm.”
“He somehow got past me and was panicking walking through saying ‘please somebody help me, I’ve been stabbed’,” Andy remembered.
Fearing a potential artery bleed, Andy used his belt to ‘string his arm up.’
“The attacker was just stabbing anybody who he could find. I don’t know how it started or why,” he added.
Their accounts emerge alongside numerous heroic narratives, including that of an older man who ‘blocked’ the attacker from advancing on a young girl and another individual, identified as Stephen Crean, who attempted to ‘confront’ the assailant.
Counter-terrorism officials have been involved to investigate the ‘major incident,’ while authorities urge calm, describing it as an ‘isolated attack.’