Solingen, 24 August 2024 (TDI): Three people have been killed and another four seriously wounded in a knife attack in the western German city of Solingen, police said.
The attack happened during a festival in the city center on Friday evening. The attacker is still at large.
A man randomly stabbed passers-by. A huge manhunt is now under way, with police helicopters seen hovering above the industrial city.
The city was celebrating 650 years since it was founded.
The city authorities instructed people to leave the Fronhof market area, as police set up security cordons, following the attack at about 22:00 local time (21:00 BST).
Emergency crews at the scene were seen treating the wounded.
Police later deployed forty tactical vehicles in the hunt for the stabbing attacker.
The vehicles are being commanded by Special Task Force (SEK) officers.
Roads have been blocked, and residents instructed to stay indoors as officers carry out their search.
Philipp Müller, one of the festival organisers, said the emergency crews were fighting for the lives of 9 injured.
The suspect is believed to have deliberately stabbed his victims in the neck.
Police said that they are currently assuming that it was one attacker.
In a Facebook statement, Solingen Mayor Tim Kurzbach said that Tonight all of us in the city are in shock, horror and great sadness. We all wanted to celebrate our city anniversary together and now we have to mourn the dead and wounded.
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The celebrations had been supposed to run for three days, and the city expected 25,000 people every night. The city center was just packed with people. But the celebrations have now been cancelled.
Solingen – a city in North Rhineland-Westphalia famous for its steel industry – has nearly 160,000 inhabitants. It lies about 15 miles east of Düsseldorf and north-east of Cologne.
