A man has been hospitalised after repeatedly stabbing himself in the head and neck with a knife at Heathrow airport.
The passenger had already passed through airport security checks when, according to eyewitnesses he began to cut himself near the airport’s Fortnum and Masons store with the blade.
Shocked passengers and cabin crew then grappled with the man in an attempt to stop him from hurting himself and he was taken to hospital and treated for non-life threatening injuries. No other passengers or crew were injured during the incident.
A spokesman for Heathrow airport said they believed the man had seized the knife from a nearby shop and he told The Telegraph:
The man in question has been taken to hospital. It appears he was in the departure lounge and he picked up a knife from one of the shops. He was helped by a couple of members of the cabin crew, and we believe he was suffering from a mental illness. There was no breach of security.
One passenger, who wishes to remain anonymous, told The Guardian they heard people screaming and running around:
I saw a Middle Eastern or north African looking gentleman constantly stabbing the side of his head with a knife and blood all down him. People were trying to stop him without getting too close. The chap was muttering words I did not understand and was very distressed. He never tried to attack anyone apart from himself so I don’t think it was a terrorist attack. The person sitting in the seat next to me said that the chap took a knife from the seafood restaurant beside the south gates about 20 metres from where I first saw him.
A spokesperson for Scotland Yard said:
Police were called to a shop at Heathrow Terminal 5 to a report that a man had injured himself with a knife. Officers attended along with paramedics and the man was taken to a west London hospital with injuries which were not life-threatening.
