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| A number of people reported killed in a terror knife attack in the western German city of Solingen | |||||
| 2024-08-24 | |||||
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Police say the attack happened during a festival in the city centre on Friday evening. The attacker is believed to be still on the lam. Bild website says a man randomly stabbed passers-by. A manhunt is now under way, with police helicopters seen hovering above the city. The attack happened during the festival marking 650 years of Solingen. The city authorities asked people to leave the Fronhof market area and police are imposing security cordons. Emergency crews at the scene are now treating the injured, media reports say. Philipp Muller, one of the concert co-organisers, said the emergency crews were fighting for the lives of nine people, the Solinger Tageblatt newspaper reports. "People are shocked, but left the square peacefully," Mr Muller said.
Philipp Müller, one of the co-organizers, said paramedics are fighting to save the lives of nine people. The incident took place at Fronhof, a marketplace in the center of the city, where a stage had been set up for live music. Authorities asked residents to leave the city center, according to the Solinger Tageblatt. The police have issued a major alert and declared a manhunt. Armed officers are currently on the scene and have cordoned off large areas of the city. There are barriers all over the city. According to the German daily Bild, heavily armed SEK units with about 40 special vehicles from all over North Rhine-Westphalia had been deployed to Solingen. Road junctions have been blocked and residents have been asked to stay indoors and avoid the city center, the publication said. Solingen has a population of about 160,000. It is located near the larger cities of Cologne and Düsseldorf in Germany's most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia.
UPDATE 2315: Germany’s Bild newspaper has reported that eyewitnesses said that they saw an “Arab-looking man” flee from the scene of the attack. The suspect is still at large at the time of this reporting.
According to the local Solinger Tageblatt newspaper, citing two sources at the scene, the believed knife attack left three people dead, six others were seriously injured, and another was injured.
“We’ve just informed all the artists and stand operators,” he said.
Police are said to be classifying it as a terrorist attack, according to Bild. Germany's armed special police officers have been deployed to assist at the scene. Police spokesperson Alexander Kresta said: 'We would like to have a precise description of the perpetrator. That is difficult. Witnesses are in shock or can't speak at the moment. 'We assume [it is] a single offender. He's on the run. He killed three people at the city festival and seriously injured at least four. So we can't say that he's not dangerous. Germany's top security official, interior minister Nancy Faeser, recently proposed toughening weapons laws to allow only knives with a blade measuring up to 6cm (nearly 2.4in) to be carried in public, rather than the length of 12cm (4.7in), which is allowed now. The country has seen a series of knife attacks over the past 12 months. | |||||
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