Several people were injured in a violent incident aboard a train in Limburg Province on Thursday. The incident began on a train between Sint-Truiden and Hasselt. The knifeman also briefly walked onto the track at Hasselt railway station and rail traffic was suspended there for a time as a result. Police detained a 28-year-old suspect.
Home News
Man (28) arrested at Hasselt stations after stabbings aboard at train
Published:
The incident started aboard a train between Sint-Truiden and Hasselt. The suspect injured several victims by stabbing them with a knife. Two people were taken to hospital for treatment. The exact circumstances surrounding the incident are still unclear.
Pieter Strauven of the Limburg Public Prosecutor’s Office told VRT News that "One of the victims is a woman aged 23. She was stabbed in the leg and upper arm with a knife. She was taken to hospital, but has since been discharged”
"When the train stopped at Hasselt station, the suspect tried to flee. Bystanders were able to overpower and restrain him on the platform until the police were able to arrest him."
The suspect will be questioned today (Friday) by officers from the Federal Railway Police. The motive for the attack is still unclear.
According to a witness who asked to remain anonymous the suspect had also harassed passengers prior to the attack. "The man first tried to steal a mobile phone from a young woman. Despite her handing over her phone, he still stabbed her with a Stanley knife."
"A group of girls then ran through the train to alert the other passengers. Everyone fled to the back carriage, but basically there was no escape. One man tried to intervene, but sustained injuries to his face. The suspect made another attempt to steal a laptop from another young woman, but she resisted because she did not want to lose her master’s degree thesis. She was throttled and even bitten by the man."
The train eventually came to a halt at Hasselt station where witnesses say that the man set off calmly as if nothing had happened. He was restrained by bystanders on the platform until the police arrived.
Impact on train traffic
As the suspect had ventured onto the track before he was restrained, the incident had an impact on rail traffic through Hasselt station. Thomas Baeken of the rail infrastructure management company Infrabel told VRT News that "Yesterday evening, a little before 9pm, we received a report that someone was on the track at Hasselt station. This is obviously mortally dangerous so we immediately suspended rail traffic through Hasselt station for around 10 minutes. At the request of the police the track where the incident occurred and the adjacent track remained closed for longer. At around midnight, the entire station was operational operation again."