UPDATE: A man arrested in connection to the Tulse Hill knife incident has been detained under the Mental Health Act.
A man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after being tasered on a busy train platform in south London as terrified commuters looked on.
The man, 59, was detained by police after witnesses said he brandished a “massive machete” at Tulse Hill station during rush hour on Monday evening.
A video on social media appears to show a man wielding the knife above his head.
British Transport Police confirmed that a Taser was discharged and that a man was taken into custody.
There are no reported injuries and the incident is not currently believed to be terror-related.
Conor Fortune, 39, said he was on a Thameslink train travelling away from central London at Tulse Hill station when he heard a male voice “shouting quite loudly”.
The train conductor then told passengers not to get off because there was “a dangerous man on the platform”, he said.
Fortune, from south west London, said: “After several minutes of being sat on the platform, the driver announced that we were being held and she shut the doors as a precaution, and advised nobody to get off as there was ‘a dangerous man on the platform’.
“She informed us the police had been alerted and were responding.”
He added that he had been impressed by the train driver’s professionalism and at the rapid police response.
Video on social media appears to show the moment police fired Tasers at the man, the force of which threw him to the floor of the platform before he was detained.
The video shows the incident unfolding as a train announcement asks passengers to “report suspicious behaviour”.
Ash New, 27, who commutes into central London from Tulse Hill every day, said he arrived at the station on his way home after the man had been subdued.
New, who lives a few minutes from the station, said he saw police officers with bags collecting evidence on the opposite platform.
He also saw a number of people who looked “a bit shaken” as they were being spoken to by police.
He said: “I think there was a lot of confusion. People were not really sure what was going on.”
He added that he was shocked to see around a dozen police cars outside the station.
Vikash Jasani, 33, was on a train at the time of the incident. He told his employer, JOE.co.uk: “I saw a woman running on to our carriage from nowhere in a clear state of panic.
“I looked out of the window on the train on my right and I could see a man wielding a machete walking across the platform bridge and people running down the platform.
“After a few seconds a number of police officers approached the man, tasered him and he went down straight away. Another two officers then approached as you can see in the pic.”
Anyone who witnessed what happened is asked to contact BTP by sending a text to 61016 or by calling 0800 40 50 40 quoting reference 478 of 14/01/2019.