Three people were killed and four seriously injured in a knife attack in the western city of Solingen on Friday. The perpetrator is on the run, said a police spokeswoman in Düsseldorf.
According to media reports, a man stabbed passers-by at random with a knife at a festival celebrating the city’s 650th anniversary.
The local newspaper Solinger Tageblatt reported that three people had been killed and others were in a life-threatening situation.
Philipp Müller, one of the co-organizers, said paramedics are fighting to save the lives of nine people.
The festival was temporarily suspended. Sirens could be heard in the downtown area and helicopters were seen overhead.
Police declare a manhunt
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, .
Witnesses in shock
The incident left those attending the festivities in shock. One witness told the Solinger Tageblatt he had been standing in front of the stage on the Fronhof when the attack took place just a few meters away from him.
He had been watching live music when he noticed the expression on the singer’s face that something was wrong.
“And then a person fell over just a meter away from me,” Lars Breitzke told the local newspaper. At first, he thought the person was drunk.
But when he turned around, Breitzke saw other people lying on the ground in pools of blood. He himself was unharmed.
Solingen’s mayor Tim Kurzbach also expressed his shock following the deadly attack on the city’s festival. “Tonight, all of us in Solingen are in shock, horror and great sadness,” he wrote on the city’s Facebook page.
“We all wanted to celebrate our city anniversary together and now we have to mourn the dead and injured,” he said. “I pray for all those who are still fighting for their lives,” Kurzbach added.
dh/ab (dpa, Reuters, AP)
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