Woman killed by knifeman on Tube station platform

A woman was stabbed to death last night and a man who tried to intervene seriously injured by a man with a knife who went on the attack in front of commuters on the London Underground.

The knifeman fled to an upstairs booking hall at Euston station in central London where he tried to slit his throat and stabbed himself in front of a crowd of people. The knife was still lodged in his body when the ambulance service arrived.

Both men were taken to nearby University College Hospital. The attacker was described as being in a serious condition. The woman, who was stabbed in the chest, is believed to have been a former girlfriend of the knifeman.

The incident happened at about 6.20pm when the knifeman and woman were travelling on a northern-bound Tube train on the Northern line. The couple are believed to have got involved in a heated argument. Having got off the train at Euston, the man pulled out a knife and attacked the woman on a platform that was packed with commuters.

One traveller tried to stop the knifeman but was stabbed in the arm himself. The attacker, thought to be in his 30s, then ran up an escalator past dozens of people into the booking hall where he is thought to have tried to kill himself.

Witnesses said "a lot of blood''. The assailant was undergoing urgent treatment last night while the injuries of the man who intervened were described as "superficial".

Both the man with the arm wound and the woman, who was reportedly stabbed once or twice, were believed to be in their 20s or 30s.

Five London Underground staff who witnessed the incident were receiving counselling and were said to be "extremely traumatised", as were passengers who saw the incident that left two trails of blood near the ticket barriers.

One witness, Sabin Varghese, 28, a social worker from Inverness, said: "There were at least 10 people running around screaming, panicking and saying, 'What's going on, I saw blood on the platform.' I saw a man in his 30s who had obviously been stabbed in the neck and was being put in the ambulance. They were giving him oxygen and there was blood coming out of his neck. The ambulance men were shouting to get him away. They were giving him oxygen."

The station was expected to remain closed for the night.