Germany: Knife attack at festival leaves three dead, others injured

The hunt continues Saturday in Germany to arrest the perpetrator of a knife attack which left three dead and four seriously injured the previous evening during a community festival in Solingen, in the west of the country.

German police have called on the public on the social network X to provide any information, including photos and videos, that could lead to the arrest of the suspect who fled.

A “major operation” is underway to try to find him, a spokeswoman for the Düsseldorf police told AFP.

“The attacker stabbed people at random with a knife,” Alexander Kresta, a spokesman for the Wuppertal police, told the tabloid Bild.

After the attack during the celebrations for the 650th anniversary of this city in North Rhine-Westphalia, the premises were “largely cordoned off”, according to the Düsseldorf police.

The many police officers present during the night from Friday to Saturday were assisted by special forces officers, noted an AFP photographer according to whom a helicopter was also taking part in the operations.

“Tonight, we are all in a state of shock, horror and great sadness in Solingen. We all wanted to celebrate our city's anniversary together and now we have dead and injured people to mourn”, wrote on the website of this municipality in the Ruhr basin its mayor, Tim-Oliver Kurzbach.

Solingen, a municipality of more than 150,000 inhabitants, is located not far from Düsseldorf and north of Cologne.

“It breaks my heart that an attack has taken place in our city. I have tears in my eyes thinking of those we have lost. I pray for all those who are still fighting for their lives,” the mayor added.

Forensic police inspect the scene of the deadly knife attack in Solingen, western Germany, on August 24, 2024 © AFP – INA FASSBENDER

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According to the local daily “Solinger Tageblatt”, shortly after 10 p.m. (2000 GMT), a member of the organization went on stage to interrupt the demonstration that had started in the evening with a light show accompanied by concerts on a square in the city center.

The organizer said that emergency services were trying to save the lives of several people. The thousands of visitors followed his invitation to leave the scene peacefully, the newspaper reported. “The atmosphere is ghostly,” described the journalist covering the event.

– Pools of blood –

“People left the square in shock, but calmly,” Philipp Müller, one of the organizers, testified in the newspaper.

A witness also claims to the “Solinger Tageblatt” that he was a few meters away from the attack, not far from the concert stage, “understanding from the expression on the singer's face that something was wrong.”

“And then, a meter away from me, a person fell,” says this man, Lars Breitzke, who says he initially thought it was a drunk person.

A police officer in front of a Red Cross vehicle on August 24, 2024 in Solingen, western Germany, after a deadly knife attack © AFP – INA FASSBENDER

But when he turned around, he saw other people lying on the ground and several pools of blood.

The German authorities have remained on high alert in recent years in the face of a dual terrorist threat, jihadism and right-wing extremism.

The deadliest jihadist attack committed on German soil dates back to December 2016: a truck attack claimed by the Islamic State group left 12 dead at a Christmas market in the centre of Berlin.

At the end of May, a knife attack in Mannheim (west) targeting an anti-Islam rally and committed by a 25-year-old Afghan who arrived in Germany in 2014 is suspected of having had an Islamist motivation. It cost the life of a police officer and left five others injured.

Another threat weighs on the country, embodied by the extreme right, after several deadly attacks in recent years targeting community or religious places.

The festivities in Solingen, which were to last until Sunday, have been cancelled due to the attack, the organisers indicated in the press. Called “Festival of Diversity”, the event was to offer three days of music, theatre and dance. Up to 75,000 visitors were expected.

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