BERLIN - Two people were killed and at least seven others injured in a stabbing on a train in northern Germany on Wednesday afternoon.

The attack happened shortly before 3pm on a regional train travelling from the northern city of Kiel to Hamburg. Just before the train arrived in the town of Brokstedt, about halfway during the journey, a man started randomly stabbing passengers, according witness reports.

It was unclear how exactly how the attack ended. One witness told the news site t-online that he held the assailant after the man had dropped the knife until police could arrest him.

The attacker, whom the authorities have identified as a 33-year-old Palestinian man, was arrested at the train station in Brokstedt, 40 miles (64km) north of Hamburg. Having been alerted by passengers en route, police were waiting for him when the train pulled in. No more information on the suspect was released. A motive was not immediately clear.

Witnesses described a scene of carnage with blood visible along several train cars. Police officers, who questioned witnesses in Brokstedt, said about 70 people were on the train during the attack.

Ms Nancy Faeser, the federal interior minister responsible public safety, promised a quick investigation. “The background to the crime is now being investigated at full speed,” she said.

The attacker, who was also severely injured and was being treated at a hospital, will be interrogated as soon as he is fit, police said.

The station was cordoned off and the train was stalled in the station as police investigated the attack. Train service on the line was temporarily halted, according to the national German train service.

The attack follows other recent deadly stabbings in the country, including one that killed a teenage girl in Illerkirchberg and another that killed three people in Würzburg. There have also been several attacks on trains in recent years. Ubiquitous in Germany, trains usually do not carry extra security or police.

In the attack on Wednesday, three people were severely injured, while four others escaped with minor injuries, according to police, who did not release the names of the victims. NYTIMES