2024-08-27 01:10:26
Soling: A knife-wielding attacker killed three people and seriously injured at least five others late Friday night during a festival in the German city of Solingen, authorities said. Police said witnesses informed them shortly after 9.30 pm that an unidentified criminal injured several people in a knife attack at the Frohnhof square. They said the attacker was on the run and police had very little information about him at the moment. According to police, the attack was probably carried out by just one person.
Philipp Muller, one of the festival’s organisers, came on stage and asked people to leave the scene calmly and “please be cautious” because unfortunately the culprit has not been caught. He said the attacker had injured several people. Police said at least three people were killed and five others seriously injured in the attack, but the region’s top security official Herbert Ruhl said six people were injured when he visited the scene early Saturday.
The reason behind the attack was not disclosed
Reul, the interior minister of the North Rhine-Westphalia state, said, “None of us know why the attack was carried out. I cannot say anything about the motive of the attack right now and it is not clear who the attacker was.” Mayor Tim Kurzbach wrote on Facebook, “This evening, all of us in Solingen are in shock. We all wanted to celebrate the anniversary of our city together and now we are mourning the casualties. My heart is very saddened by the attack on our city.”
Celebrations marking the city’s 650th anniversary began on Friday and were scheduled to continue until Sunday. The rest of the festive program has been canceled after the attack. A recent rise in knife attacks in Germany has become a matter of concern. A police officer was killed in May in a knife attack by an Afghan migrant on members of a group describing itself as opposed to political Islam.