UK police release 1 of 2 men arrested over train stabbings and laud 'heroic' rail worker

LONDON (AP) — British police said Sunday that one of two men arrested in connection with a mass stabbing attack that spread fear and panic on a London-bound train a day earlier has been released without charge, and that one person, a “heroic” member of the railway staff, remains in a life-threatening condition.

In a statement Sunday evening, police said the only remaining suspect is a 32-year-old British man who remains in custody on suspicion of attempted murder. A second man initially arrested as a suspect was released without charge after it was determined the 35-year-old was not involved.

Police said they are not treating the stabbings as an act of terror and are confident they are not looking for anyone else in connection with the attack. They have not disclosed a possible motive or the type of knife used.

“Our investigation is moving at pace and we are confident we are not looking for anyone else in connection to the incident," said Deputy Chief Constable Stuart Cundy of the British Transport Police.

“As would be expected, specialist detectives are looking into the background of the suspect we have in custody and the events that led up to the attack," he added.

Six people remained in hospitals Sunday, one of them in a life-threatening condition. Police said he is a staff member of the train's operator, London North Eastern Railway, or LNER, which operates the East Coast Mainline services in the U.K.

“Having viewed the CCTV from the train, the actions of the member of rail staff were nothing short of heroic and undoubtedly saved people’s lives," said Cundy.

The five others injured during the attack on Saturday evening have been discharged from hospitals.

The two men were arrested eight minutes after the first emergency calls were made at 7:42 p.m. Saturday from aboard the train, where passengers had reported scenes of panic and chaos, with many running through the carriages and some seeking safety in the toilets.

Police said the suspect is from Peterborough and that he boarded the train at the town's station, just a few minutes before it was forced into an emergency stop in Huntingdon, a market town around 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of London.

The attack took place as the 6:25 p.m. train from Doncaster in northern England to London’s King’s Cross station was about halfway through its two-hour journey, having just departed Peterborough.

Bloodied and confused passengers spilled out of the train at Huntingdon as dozens of police waited, some of them armed. A knife was recovered by officers at the scene.

During the immediate response to the attack, police said that “Plato,” the national code word used by police and emergency services when responding to what could be a “marauding terror attack,” was initiated. That declaration was later rescinded.

Passenger Olly Foster told the BBC he heard people shouting “run, run, there’s a guy literally stabbing everyone,” and initially thought it might have been a Halloween prank — Saturday was the day after Halloween. But as passengers pushed past him to get away, he noticed his hand was covered in blood from a chair he had leaned on.

Following reports that some of those on board the train put themselves in harm's way to protect others, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood praised the “exceptional bravery of staff and passengers on the train."

King Charles III said he and his wife, Queen Camilla, sent their sympathies and thoughts to those affected and that they were “truly appalled and shocked to hear of the dreadful knife attack."

Passengers across the U.K.'s rail network saw a heightened police presence on Sunday, both on trains and at stations.

Forensic investigators are seen at the train after a mass stabbing on a London-bound train in Huntingdon, England, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Forensic investigators look at the area where travellers left their belongings after a mass stabbing on a London-bound train in Huntingdon, England, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Police Superintendent John Loveless addresses the media after a mass stabbing on a London-bound train in Huntingdon, England, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

A forensic investigator works on a road leading to a train station after a mass stabbing on a London-bound train in Huntingdon, England, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

A train is parked at the station after a mass stabbing on a London-bound train in Huntingdon, England, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2025.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Police on the platform by the train at Huntingdon station after a mass stabbing on a London-bound train in eastern England, in Cambridgeshire, England, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Chris Radburn/PA via AP)

Forensic investigators on the platform by a train at Huntingdon station after a mass stabbing on a London-bound train in eastern England, in Cambridgeshire, England, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Chris Radburn/PA via AP)

Emergency responders on the tracks by the train at Huntingdon station after a mass stabbing on a London-bound train in eastern England, in Cambridgeshire, England, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Chris Radburn/PA via AP)

Emergency responders at Huntingdon station after a mass stabbing on a London-bound train in eastern England, in Cambridgeshire, England, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Chris Radburn/PA via AP)

The Huntingdon, England, train station in Cambridgeshire is seen after people were stabbed Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Chris Radburn/PA via AP)

Emergency personnel inspect a train at the Huntingdon, England, train station in Cambridgeshire after people were stabbed Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Chris Radburn/PA via AP)

Emergency personnel inspect a train at the Huntingdon, England, train station in Cambridgeshire after people were stabbed Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Chris Radburn/PA via AP)

Police stand guard near the Huntingdon, England, train station in Cambridgeshire, after people were stabbed on a train, Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Chris Radburn/PA via AP)

Emergency personnel inspect a train at the Huntingdon, England, train station in Cambridgeshire after people were stabbed Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025. (Chris Radburn/PA via AP)

HAMIMA, Syria (AP) — A trickle of civilians left a contested area east of Aleppo on Thursday after a warning by the Syrian military to evacuate ahead of an anticipated government military offensive against Kurdish-led forces.

Government officials and some residents who managed to get out said the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces prevented people from leaving via the corridor designated by the military along the main road leading west from the town of Maskana through Deir Hafer to the town of Hamima.

The SDF denied the reports that they were blocking the evacuation.

In Hamima, ambulances and government officials were gathered beginning early in the morning waiting to receive the evacuees and take them to shelters, but few arrived.

Farhat Khorto, a member of the executive office of Aleppo Governorate who was waiting there, claimed that there were "nearly two hundred civilian cars and hundreds of people who wanted to leave” the Deir Hafer area but that they were prevented by the SDF. He said the SDF was warning residents they could face “sniping operations or booby-trapped explosives” along that route.

Some families said they got out of the evacuation zone by taking back roads or going part of the distance on foot.

“We tried to leave this morning, but the SDF prevented us. So we left on foot … we walked about seven to eight kilometers until we hit the main road, and there the civil defense took us and things were good then,” said Saleh al-Othman, who said he fled Deir Hafer with more than 50 relatives.

Yasser al-Hasno, also from Deir Hafer, said he and his family left via back roads because the main routes were closed and finally crossed a small river on foot to get out of the evacuation area.

Another Deir Hafer resident who crossed the river on foot, Ahmad al-Ali, said, “We only made it here by bribing people. They still have not allowed a single person to go through the main crossing."

Farhad Shami, a spokesman for the SDF, said the allegations that the group had prevented civilians from leaving were “baseless.” He suggested that government shelling was deterring residents from moving.

The SDF later issued a statement also denying that it had blocked civilians from fleeing. It said that “any displacement of civilians under threat of force by Damascus constitutes a war crime" and called on the international community to condemn it.

“Today, the people of Deir Hafer have demonstrated their unwavering commitment to their land and homes, and no party can deprive them of their right to remain there under military pressure,” it said.

The Syrian army’s announcement late Wednesday — which said civilians would be able to evacuate through the “humanitarian corridor” from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday — appeared to signal plans for an offensive against the SDF in the area east of Aleppo. Already there have been limited exchanges of fire between the two sides.

Thursday evening, the military said it would extend the humanitarian corridor for another day.

The Syrian military called on the SDF and other armed groups to withdraw to the other side of the Euphrates River, to the east of the contested zone. The SDF controls large swaths of northeastern Syria east of the river.

The tensions in the Deir Hafer area come after several days of intense clashes last week in Aleppo city that ended with the evacuation of Kurdish fighters and government forces taking control of three contested neighborhoods.

The fighting broke out as negotiations have stalled between Damascus and the SDF over an agreement reached last March to integrate their forces and for the central government to take control of institutions including border crossings and oil fields in the northeast.

Some of the factions that make up the new Syrian army, which was formed after the fall of former President Bashar Assad in a rebel offensive in December 2024, were previously Turkey-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.

The SDF for years has been the main U.S. partner in Syria in fighting against the Islamic State group, but Turkey considers the SDF a terrorist organization because of its association with Kurdish separatist insurgents in Turkey.

Despite the long-running U.S. support for the SDF, the Trump administration has also developed close ties with the government of interim Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa and has so far avoided publicly taking sides in the clashes in Aleppo.

Ilham Ahmed, head of foreign relations for the SDF-affiliated Kurdish-led administration in northeast Syria, at a press conference Thursday said SDF officials were in contact with the United States and Turkey and had presented several initiatives for de-escalation. She said that claims by Damascus that the SDF had failed to implement the March agreement were false.

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Associated Press journalist Hogir Al Abdo in Qamishli, Syria, contributed.

Members of the Syrian military police stand at a humanitarian crossing declared by the Syrian army in the village of Hamima, in the eastern Aleppo countryside, near the front line with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Hafer, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Members of the Syrian Civil Defense, stand next to their vehicles at a humanitarian crossing declared by the Syrian army in the village of Hamima, in the eastern Aleppo countryside, near the front line with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Hafer, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

A displaced Syrian family rides in the back of a truck near a humanitarian crossing declared by the Syrian army next to a river in the village of Rasm Al-Abboud, in the eastern Aleppo countryside, near the front line with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Hafer, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Displaced Syrian children and women ride in the back of a truck near a humanitarian crossing declared by the Syrian army in the village of Hamima, in the eastern Aleppo countryside, near the front line with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Hafer, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)

Displaced Syrians at a river crossing near the village of Jarirat al Imam, in the eastern Aleppo countryside, near the front line with the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Hafer, Syria, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Omar Albam)