Four injured in ‘violent’ attack by passenger on German high-speed train
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- A 20-year-old Syrian man attacked passengers on a train near Strasskirchen, Germany, injuring four with "dangerous objects," possibly an axe.
- Passengers stopped the train by pulling the emergency brake and apprehended the attacker, who was seriously injured and hospitalised.
- Deutsche Bahn expressed dismay at the "violent attack," and police are investigating the motive behind the incident on the Hamburg to Vienna train.
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BERLIN – Four people were wounded on a high-speed train in southern Germany on July 3 when a fellow passenger wielding a hammer and axe attacked them, police said.
The suspect is a 20-year-old Syrian man, while three of the four wounded – ages 15, 24 and 51 – are also Syrian nationals, police said in a statement on July 3.
An earlier statement said the suspect was arrested at the scene following the incident on a train carrying around 500 passengers as it passed near the village of Strasskirchen.
“At around 1.55pm today (7.55pm in Singapore), a man on an ICE (Intercity Express) train travelling towards Vienna injured several people with dangerous objects,” police said.
In an update, police said the suspect had been “subdued by other passengers” before being detained by law enforcement.
The suspect “apparently had a hammer and an axe” at the time of the attack, but investigators were not yet sure “to what extent the two objects were used simultaneously or independently”, police spokesman Guenther Tomaschko told AFP.
The motive and circumstance around the attack remain unclear, Mr Tomaschko said, adding he didn’t want to “speculate” about links between those with Syrian nationality.
The nationality of the fourth victim, age 38, was not specified.
According to Bavarian interior minister Joachim Herrmann, the suspect “arrived in Austria as a refugee” and “was legally travelling” after obtaining a residence permit in that country.
Travellers boarding a bus to continue their journey on July 3, following the attack aboard a high-speed ICE train in Germany.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Austrian authorities are also investigating the suspect’s history and whereabouts in the Vienna region where he likely resided, Mr Herrmann said.
Among the victims was a Syrian woman and her son, he added.
Police would not specify the severity of the victims’ injuries, although an earlier statement said four people received “minor injuries”.
Rail operator Deutsche Bahn said it was “appalled” by the “violent attack” on the train, which had been travelling from Hamburg.
“Our thoughts and sympathy are with the injured and all those who are now coming to terms with what they have experienced,” a spokesman said. AFP
