Amsterdam police seek witnesses in fatal subway stabbing

The police are calling on witnesses to come forward in the fatal stabbing of a 38-year-old man on subway 53 in Amsterdam on Thursday. The stabbing happened during rush hour, so the subway was pretty crowded. The investigation team would like to talk to everyone who saw what happened, also to offer them victim support, Het Parool reports.

The stabbing happened around 6:00 p.m. while subway 53 was traveling between Van de Madeweg and Venserpolder. 

According to one witness, the attack seemed to be random. "The man sat next to an old lady, to the back of te subway. In fact, nothing was going on until he suddenly got up and started waving wildly with a knife", she said to the newspaper. 

As the subway was still moving, the other passengers could not get out immediately. Chaos erupted and passengers streamed out as soon as Venserpolder station was reached. Two women tried to help the victim. "The victim was already in bad shape. Some people went to look, but there was a lot of blood and I do not need to see that", the witness said to Het Parool. 

The victim was rushed to the hospital, where he died of his injuries. A 27-year-old man was arrested almost immediately after the stabbing. The police closed down the Venserpolder station for around six hours while they investigated.