British police said on Sunday that a knife attack on a train, which put 11 people in hospital, was not a terrorist incident, adding that two men — both British nationals — had been arrested.

Counterterrorism police had helped with the initial investigation after the mass stabbing of passengers on a train in eastern England on Saturday.

“At this stage, there is nothing to suggest that this is a terrorist incident,” Superintendent John Loveless from British Transport Police told the media on Sunday.

The two men arrested on suspicion of attempted murder were a 32-year-old male, a Black British national, and a 35-year-old British national of Caribbean descent, Loveless said. Both were born in the UK, he added.

“We continue to work to establish the full circumstances and motivation for this incident,” he said.

“It would not be appropriate to speculate on the cause.”

Armed police board train

The arrests were made by armed police after the train made an emergency stop at Huntingdon, around 80 miles (130 km) north of London.

Of the 11 people hospitalised, four have since been discharged, and two patients remain in a life-threatening condition, police said.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer called it an “appalling incident” which was “deeply concerning”, while King Charles said he was “truly appalled and shocked”.

Knife crime in England and Wales has risen 87 per cent over the past decade, with 54,587 offences last year alone, a two per cent rise from 2023 and among the highest rates in Europe, according to figures from Britain’s interior ministry show.

In her statement, Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood said she was “deeply saddened”, while urging people to avoid speculation about the incident.

The government is keen to stop rumours spreading on social media following an incident in Southport in northwest England in 2024, when internet claims over the murder of three young girls sparked days of rioting across the country.

Blood on all the chairs

Witness Olly Foster told the BBC that he was on the train which was heading towards London on Saturday evening when someone ran past him saying a man was stabbing “everyone, everything”.

“I put my hand on this chair…and then I look at my hand, and it’s covered in blood. And then I look at the chair, and there’s blood all over the chair. And then I look ahead and there’s blood on all the chairs,” he said.

Another witness told Sky News that a suspect was seen waving a large knife before being tasered by police.

Britain’s current threat level from terrorism is rated as “substantial” by security services, meaning an attack is considered “likely”.

After a number of serious attacks in 2017, Britain has had some quieter years in the 2020s, although last month three people were killed when a synagogue was attacked in Manchester.