Two British nationals in custody over train mass stabbings in UK

London: Two people remain in life-threatening condition on Sunday after mass stabbings which injured 10 people on a high-speed London-bound train, as British Transport Police ruled out a terrorism link to the “major incident” as counter-terror police engagement was discontinued.

Two UK-born men in their 30s remain in custody after being arrested at the scene of the attack on Saturday night, when armed police stormed the train at Huntingdon station in Cambridgeshire, eastern England.

The train, which had been travelling from Doncaster and was headed to King’s Cross station in the UK capital, made the unscheduled stop at Huntingdon after what has been described by eyewitnesses as a bloody rampage on the train minutes after it left nearby Peterborough station.

“We declared a major incident yesterday (Saturday) and Counter Terrorism Policing were initially supporting our investigation, however, at this stage there is nothing to suggest this is a terrorist incident,” British Transport Police (BTP) Superintendent John Loveless said.

“This is a British Transport Police investigation. We continue to work to establish the full circumstances and motivation for this incident. At this early stage it would not be appropriate to speculate on the causes of the incident,” Loveless told reporters outside Huntingdon railway station, which was cordoned off as a crime scene.

“A 32-year-old man, a black British national, and a 35-year-old man, a British national of Caribbean descent, were both arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Both were born in the UK. Giving further details of the “shocking incident”, the police official said the force responded to emergency calls at around 7.42 pm local time on Saturday to reports of a multiple stabbing.