Two men were fatally stabbed Friday on a train car in Portland, Oregon when they tried to intervene as a fellow passenger screamed anti-Muslim insults at two women, the authorities said.

The victims were attacked when they tried to calm the man, who was ranting and talking disparagingly about the women, one of whom was wearing a hijab, the police said.

“It’s horrific; there are no other words to describe what happened today,” Sgt. Pete Simpson, a spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau, said at a news conference.

One of the victims died in the train car, and the other at a hospital, the police said. A third man who was stabbed was being treated at a hospital. He was expected to recover.

“He said, ‘Get off the bus, and get out of the country because you don’t pay taxes here,’” Ms. Hernandez told KATU-TV.

When the two men tried to intervene, he pulled out a knife and slashed them, according to Ms. Hernandez and the police. The two women were not injured and left the station before the police could talk to them, Sergeant Simpson said.

The attacker fled the train car but was soon arrested, the police said. His name was not released.

“We don’t know if he’s got mental health issues,” Sergeant Simpson said. “We don’t know if he’s under the influence of drugs or alcohol or all of the above.”

Ramadan, the holiest month of the Muslim calendar, began on Friday evening.

New York Times