Beckenham: Train passengers pleaded with knifeman during attack

Passengers who were in the train carriage where a knifeman attacked another man pleaded with him to stop, the BBC has been told.

A man in his 20s suffered life-threatening injuries when he was stabbed while travelling on a train in south-east London on Wednesday.

One passenger, who did not wish to be named, said: "People were shouting, 'don't kill him, don't kill him'."

A 19-year-old has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.

The victim is in a critical but stable condition in hospital, British Transport Police (BTP) said.

The passenger said he was on the Southeastern train, which was travelling between Shortlands and Beckenham Junction while on its way to London Victoria, when he saw two people taking part in what "looked like rough play initially".

"Very quickly it spilled away from the seats on to the floor of the carriageway.

"At that point I saw a knife. A few other passengers saw it too and ran away from that area and came towards us," he explained.

The witness said he and other passengers then tried to plead with the attacker to stop.

"People were shouting 'don't kill him, don't kill him'," he said.

The BTP was first called to reports of two men seen in an altercation while entering a train at Shortlands station just before 16:00 GMT on Wednesday.

In footage of the incident, passengers in the carriage were heard gasping and shouting at a man, wearing a hooded jacket and a facemask, to stop.

The force said it had recovered a knife as part of its investigation.

Supt Darren Malpas said: "We understand the concerns of the public following this incident and our detectives have been working tirelessly to investigate.

"I hope this arrest will bring some reassurance to those on the rail network."

He added that "high-visibility patrols" would continue in the area and on the rail network, "as a visible reassurance to the travelling public".

In the hours after the incident, a local school initiated its "lockdown procedure", telling parents in an email it had brought all children at its after-school club inside as a precaution.

BTP said detectives continued to appeal for witnesses to come forward.

It urged anyone with information on the incident to contact police or call Crimestoppers anonymously.

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