At least three people were stabbed to death on Friday night during a festival in the western German city of Solingen. At around 9.45pm, a man attacked several random passers-by with a knife, according to German media. The organiser of the festival, which was attended by thousands of people, said that emergency services were treating nine seriously injured people. Witnesses said the attacker had fled, while local police said they could not comment at the moment.
Two sources cited by the local newspaper Solinger Tageblatt Three people are reported dead, while three others are seriously injured and one is slightly injured. Neither the police nor the fire brigade have yet provided any further official information. According to eyewitnesses spoken to by the newspaper, the alleged perpetrator fled in the direction of the main road. No arrests have yet been made, the DPA agency reports, citing police sources.
Several police and emergency services units are on the scene securing the area, which has been cordoned off. The authorities have asked the inhabitants of the city of 160,000 to leave the centre of the town. Witnesses quoted by the media have confirmed that it was a knife attack. Philipp Müller, one of the organisers, explained on stage at the festival that the emergency services are working to save the lives of nine people.
Solingen is celebrating its so-called diversity festival to mark the city’s 650th anniversary. Concerts and other events had been scheduled for the festival but have now been cancelled. “People have left the square in shock but calm,” Philipp Müller told the local newspaper, citing eyewitness Lars Breitzke, who was standing in front of the main stage when the crime took place. He says he realised something was wrong when he saw the expression on the face of the singer Suzan Köcher, who was performing at the time. “Then a person fell to the ground a metre away from me,” says the witness, who at first thought it was a drunk. When he turned around, he saw other people lying on the ground and saw several pools of blood, the newspaper reports. Solinger Tageblatt.
Shortly before midnight, Mayor Tim Kurzbach said on social media that the city was in shock: “Tonight we are all shocked, horrified and very sad in Solingen. We wanted to celebrate our city’s anniversary together and now we have to mourn the dead and injured. It breaks my heart that there was an attack in our city. It brings tears to my eyes when I think of those we have lost. I pray for all those who are still fighting for their lives.”
[Noticia de última hora. Habrá ampliación en breve]
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