3 killed in knife attack at festival in western Germany

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Police said that a knife attack occurred at a festival in the western German city of Solingen on Friday evening (August 23), killing three people and seriously injuring four others.

They said an unidentified man attacked several people at around 10pm (20:00 GMT) and the perpetrator is still at large.

“My heart is broken by the attack on our city. Tears well up in my eyes when I think of the people we have lost. My prayers go out to all those who are still fighting for their lives,” Solingen Mayor Tim-Oliver Kutzbach said in a statement.

Fatal stabbings and shootings are relatively rare in Germany.

Police said the attack took place during a festival in the town celebrating its 650th anniversary.

Solingen is located in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state, bordering the Netherlands.

The state’s Interior Minister Herbert Ruhl, who visited the scene, told reporters it was an attack on human life but declined to speculate on a motive.

The mayor said in a statement that the attack took place in Fraunhofer, a market square where a live band was performing.

The German government has been working to tighten regulations on the carrying of knives in public places by reducing the permitted length.

In June this year, an attack on right-wing demonstrations occurred in Mannheim, Germany, and a 29-year-old policeman was stabbed to death.

In 2021, a stabbing incident occurred on a train, injuring several people.