Passengers on a train from Doncaster to London King’s Cross were victims of an horrific incident on the evening of November 1, as a knife attack broke out shortly after the train departed Peterborough.
What should have been a routine journey turned into chaos as a knifeman began stabbing people at random, leaving passengers scrambling to escape the carnage.
Witnesses described scenes of terror lasting around 10 to 15 minutes, with people hiding in toilets or bolting through carriages to flee the attacker.
“It felt like forever,” said one onlooker of the ordeal, which unfolded before armed police boarded the train following its emergency stop at Huntingdon station in Cambridgeshire.
"Kill me, kill me, kill me": Disturbing moments before arrest
Outside Huntingdon station, Viorel Turturica, who had arrived to pick someone up at 7:41PM, captured the dramatic moment police took action, per the Daily Mail.
Just minutes after seeing the crowd flee, he claimed a man wielding “a huge kitchen knife” ran past his car at 7:47PM.
“The police arrive seconds later and I could hear him shouting ‘kill me, kill me, kill me’,” Turturica said.
“They then Taser him and as soon as he is down they say to him, ‘Drop your weapon,’ – that’s when I started recording.”
He admitted he didn’t “understand the gravity” of what had happened until after he saw the overwhelming police response.
“He came at me with the knife”: Survivor recounts terrifying encounter
Among those caught up in the attack was 48-year-old Danya Arnold, who had been traveling with her friend Andy Gray, per The Sun.
Speaking about her near-death experience, she recalled: “I was going with the crowd but then I got knocked into some seats. I looked back and saw the knifeman running so I slid down to the floor. 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.”
Danya’s terrifying encounter didn’t end there.
“Then a minute or so later he came back through,” she added. “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.” She later saw police taser the suspect “by the taxi rank.”
Heroic efforts: Passenger uses belt to save wounded teen
While Danya managed to escape, her friend Andy Gray jumped into action to help a gravely wounded young man, believed to be around 19 or 20 years old.
“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,” Andy explained. “He somehow got past me and was panicking walking through saying ‘please somebody help me, I’ve been stabbed.’”
Thinking fast, Andy used his own belt as a makeshift tourniquet. “The attacker was just stabbing anybody who he could find. I don’t know how it started or why,” he said.
Police: Not being treated as terrorism
Following the chaos, two men were taken into custody at separate police stations. Both men were born in the UK. British Transport Police confirmed that while counter-terrorism officers were initially involved, the incident is not currently being treated as terrorism.
Superintendent John Loveless clarified the situation: “We declared a major incident yesterday and counter terrorism policing were initially supporting our investigation.
"However, at this stage, there is nothing to suggest this is a terrorist incident. At this stage it would not be appropriate to speculate on the causes of the incident.”
As reported by BBC News, one of the suspects — 32-year-old Anthony Williams from Peterborough — has now been charged with 10 counts of attempted murder.