On Saturday night a train from Doncaster bound for London was dramatically diverted after an alarm was raised on board. A man armed with a large knife, who is believed to have joined the train at Peterborough, carried out a vicious attack on multiple victims. Within 20 minutes a suspect had been arrested in Cambridgeshire, more than 70 miles from the train’s intended destination of King’s Cross in London.

Eleven people were treated in hospital, where one person remains in a stable but critical condition. The BBC has spoken to train passengers and stabbing victims alongside video and police statements to build a picture of how the attack and the emergency response unfolded.

‘You need to run, you need to run’

The attack started just over an hour after the LNER train left Doncaster. At 19:29 it had pulled out of Peterborough station, where the suspect had apparently boarded. Just five minutes later the alarm was pulled near the middle of the train in coach J.

Amira Ostalski and a friend, both students at Nottingham University, had got on the train at the previous stop of Grantham and were travelling to London to “have some fun”.

Amira was seated watching a film when she saw a man in a white shirt leap out of his seat about five rows in front of her followed by screams of “knife, knife”. Amira then spotted a man holding a large kitchen knife and fled towards the rear of the train with her friend.

In the next carriage, coach H, YouTuber Olly Foster heard shouts of “run, run, there’s a guy literally stabbing everyone”, and initially thought it was a Halloween prank. But as passengers began pushing through the carriage Olly could see “blood all over the chair” he had leaned on, covering his hand in blood.

Olly then saw an older man, thought to be an LNER staff member, who “blocked” the attacker from stabbing a younger girl, leaving him with a gash on his head and neck.

Nottingham Forest fan Joe, 24, was not meant to be on the train. He had watched the team’s football match against Manchester United earlier and missed a connecting train in Grantham.

Joe was texting his friends about his plans for the night when people came rushing through the carriage. “You need to run, you need to run,” someone told Joe. He started running but when he turned to look behind him saw “a tall black male” holding “a bloodied knife”.

Matt Kingston took his headphones out as he saw a group of people heading his way in coach H and also began running down the train. Another Nottingham Forest fan Alistair Day, 58, was next to the train’s cafe bar in coach G, and saw people fleeing down the train with blood on their clothes.

Sheltering inside the cafe

The train’s cafe bar transformed into an impromptu hiding space for those fleeing the attacker. Alistair said he saw around a dozen people inside this enclosed buffet counter in coach G and they were “trying to close up the shutters” to protect themselves from the assailant. Matt had managed to get inside the booth with the others.

Alistair saw the man near the door waving a knife and trying to open the shutters, which by then had been locked. A video he provided to the BBC from inside the cafe bar shows multiple passengers inside, with at least one on the phone to emergency services. Alistair and another witness, Tom McLaughlan, told the BBC they saw a Nottingham Forest fan move to confront the attacker. “He wasn’t the biggest guy. We tried to stop him,” Alistair said.

It appears they were referring to Stephen Crean who later told the BBC the man pulled out a large knife when he confronted him outside the cafe bar. “He’s gone for me and there was a tussle in the arms and that’s where my hand, the fingers are really bad, four cuts through them, sliced. And then he raised it and must have caught me when I was ducking and diving and caught me on the head.”

Stephen said he had been trying to give another passenger time to close the door to the cafe bar. “That door still wasn’t shut behind me, because I could still see him struggling to close it. So until I knew it was I wasn’t moving away from it.”

Matt said the attacker then walked past the locked door while waving the knife around. “He then returned back up the train and passed us again.” At that point a young man told Matt he’d been stabbed in the chest “so I helped with putting pressure on the wound and helped hold him up”.

Another victim of the train attack was Scunthorpe United footballer Jonathan Gjoshe, who was slashed across the bicep and later needed an operation.

Alarm raised and train diverted

As soon as the alarm was raised the train driver, Andrew Johnson, a Royal Navy veteran, sprang into action and contacted the control centre. The decision was made to divert the train, which was travelling at 125mph (201km/h), to a slow track, which allowed it stop at Huntingdon Station just minutes after the emergency services were first called.

The East of England Ambulance Service received the first emergency call at 19:38. A minute later, Cambridgeshire police received a report about multiple stabbings on a train. Together, they mobilised a response team outside Huntingdon Station, just under 300m away from the police force’s headquarters. At 19:41 the train arrived at the station, a minute before British Transport Police were also called to the incident.

Escape at Huntingdon Station

1:39Watch: Police rush to scene of Cambridgeshire train attack

CCTV footage captured by a business in its car park shows passengers running up platform two towards the main station building. A dramatic TikTok video, filmed from a bridge on Brampton Road overlooking the rail tracks and station, shows police officers running towards the train along the same platform.

Tom saw two men who appeared to have been stabbed “covered in blood” as he fled the train. Alistair said he saw a man who had been in the cafe bar with him being carried towards an ambulance by paramedics. “I just want to know he’s okay,” he said.

Emergency services took 10 people to hospital where a further victim was treated. Six patients have since been discharged.

The LNER staff member who remains in a critical but stable condition “undoubtedly saved people’s lives” by trying to stop the attacker, British Transport Police said.

Forced to flee again

CCTV footage shows a man climbing a fence at the station at 19:43 to an adjacent car park while holding a knife.

Amira, who had been hiding at the back of coach G armed with a metal tray to fight off the attacker if necessary, had run to the car park with her friend for safety when they got off the train.

But they saw the man walk in their direction. Fearing for their lives, they hid in a taxi. An image captured by Amira’s friend through its windscreen shows the man being detained by six police officers near several bins in the car park, around 50m (160ft) from the fence.

Video filmed from a separate taxi nearby shows the officers armed with guns, Tasers and accompanied by a dog detaining a man on the ground. Clicks from the Taser are audible in the footage.

By 19:50 police had two men in custody, 32-year-old Anthony Williams, and a 35-year-old man who was released a day later after police established he was not involved. On Monday morning Williams appeared in court charged with 10 counts of attempted murder over the train attack.

Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir said on Thursday that Pakistan sought peace with all neighbours, including Afghanistan, but reiterated that the country will not allow cross-border terrorism to be perpetrated from Afghan soil.

According to a statement from the military’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), Field Marshal Munir made the comments during a trip to Peshawar, where he held an interactive session with a jirga of tribal elders. Later on, he was given a comprehensive briefing at Headquarters 11 Corps on the prevailing security environment, operational preparedness and ongoing counter terrorism efforts to maintain peace and stability along the Pak-Afghan border.

Pakistan-Afghanistan relations have worsened sharply in recent weeks, marked by border clashes and mutual accusations. Islamabad has repeatedly warned Kabul against permitting the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to use Afghan territory for attacks — an allegation the Taliban reject. After a ceasefire, both sides initiated talks in Turkiye to develop a mechanism for monitoring Taliban measures to curb cross-border assaults, but discussions have so far reached a stalemate.

While addressing the jirga, Field Marshal Munir highlighted that “despite the continuation of cross-border terrorism from Afghanistan, Pakistan, over the last few years has exercised patience and extended multiple diplomatic and economic overtures to Afghanistan, aimed at improving Pak-Afghan bilateral relations.”

“However, instead of acting decisively against Indian-sponsored terror proxies Fitna Al Khwarij and Fitna Al Hindustan, [the] Afghan Taliban regime has been providing all possible assistance to these groups,” the statement said.

Fitna-al-Khawarij is a term the state uses for terrorists belonging to the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), while Balochistan-based groups have been designated Fitna-al-Hindustan to highlight India’s alleged role in terrorism and destabilisation across Pakistan.

It added that during the interaction, the COAS assured the tribal elders that Pakistan, particularly Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, will be “cleansed of the terrorists and their abettors.”

The army chief also appreciated the “steadfast and unconditional support” rendered by the tribal people to the security forces during the recent standoff between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban.

“He paid rich tribute to the resilience and sacrifices of the brave people of Khyber Pukhtunkhwa in [the] war against terrorism,” the statement said, adding that the tribal elders reiterated their “full support to the armed forces against terrorism and also against the Afghan Taliban.”

Per the statement, the tribal elders appreciated the candid discourse by the COAS and expressed their unwavering commitment to peace in Pakistan and highlighted that the “twisted ideology” of the Fitna al Khwarij had no acceptance among the tribes of KP.

Security forces killed nine terrorists “sponsored” by India during a series of operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sunday, according to the military’s media wing.

According to a statement from the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), nine “Indian-sponsored khawarij” were killed in three separate engagements.

“An intelligence-based operation (IBO) was conducted by the security forces in Dera Ismail Khan district, on [the] reported presence of Indian sponsored khwarij,” the military’s media wing said, using the term designating terrorists affiliated with the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan.

During the engagement, security forces “effectively engaged the khawarij location and after an intense fire exchange, four Indian-sponsored khawarij were sent to hell”.

According to the statement, another IBO was conducted in Tank District and two more Indian-sponsored khawarij were “sent to hell” by the security forces.

In the third operation in Khyber district’s Bagh area, “own troops successfully neutralised three more Indian-sponsored khawarij”, the ISPR said.

The statement added that weapons and ammunition were recovered from the dead terrorists, who were involved in numerous terrorist activities in these areas.

“Sanitisation operations are being conducted to eliminate any other kharji found in the area, as the security forces of Pakistan are determined to wipe out the menace of Indian-sponsored terrorism from the country,” the statement concluded.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari both expressed appreciation for the security forces following the operations, The Associated Press of Pakistan reported.

“Due to [the] professional expertise of Pakistan’s armed forces, [the] eradication of terrorists and terrorism was underway at great pace,” PM Shehbaz was quoted as saying.

Vowing to foil the designs of terrorists, he said, “Justice will be meted out to the terrorists patronised by India for causing damage to the life and property of the citizens.”

The PM added that the government and security forces were “determined to completely wipe out terrorism from the country”.

Meanwhile, President Zardari praised security forces for killing the nine terrorists and said that operations against will continue until the complete elimination of terrorism.

“The successful operations of the security forces against the Indian-supported terrorists was commendable,” the president was quoted as saying. “Our determination to root out terrorist elements and defend the country is unwavering.”

Last week, 12 terrorists belonging to “Indian proxy” outfits were killed by security forces while two personnel were martyred in separate engagements in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, the ISPR had said on Monday.

It added that intelligence-based operations (IBOs) were conducted on Saturday and Sunday against the TTP in KP and the proscribed Balochistan Liberation Front in Balochistan.

An IBO was conducted in Lakki Marwat district during which troops engaged the enemy at its location and sent “five Indian sponsored” terrorists to “hell”, it said. In a second IBO in the Bannu district, two “Indian-sponsored” terrorists were “successfully neutralised” by the security forces.

It further said that terrorists ambushed a security forces convoy in another incident in North Waziristan district’s general area of Mir Ali, adding that two “Indian sponsored” terrorists were “sent to hell” after the effective response of troops.

“However, during the intense fire exchange, two brave sons of the soil, Sepoy Farhad Ali Turi (age: 29 years, resident of Kurram district) and Lance Naik Sabir Afridi (age: 32 years, resident of Kohat district) having fought gallantly, paid the ultimate sacrifice and embraced martyrdom.”

Last month, ISPR Director General Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry accused India of activating its “assets” to inte­nsify terrorist attacks in Pakistan, presenting “irr­e­futable evidence” of Ind­ian state-sponsored terrorism, directed by the Ind­ian military personnel.

“Post-Pahalgam, because of the designs of terrorism that they have, they tasked all their assets, the terrorists operating in Balochistan, and we have credible intelligence for that, the Fitnah-al-Khawarij and the independent terrorist cells … to increase their activity,” he had said, using the state-designated term for the banned TTP.

Pakistan has witnessed an uptick in terror activities, especially in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, after the TTP ended its ceasefire with the government in November 2022.

A significant improvement was seen in Pakistan’s internal security landscape in April 2025, “as both militant attacks and resultant casualties dropped sharply compared to March”, according to data released by the Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies (PICSS).

Pakistan ranked second in the Global Terrorism Index 2025, with the number of deaths in terrorist attacks rising by 45 per cent over the past year to 1,081.