Knife attack in Germany: At least three dead and four critically injured at festival in Solingen

3 people died and 4 were seriously injured Friday’s attack on a festival in the city Solingenin the west GermanyPolice said.

At least one helicopter was seen in the air, while scores of police and emergency vehicles circled the road with flashing blue lights and several streets were closed.

The police said The teacher ran awaya, German news agency dpa reported. According to unidentified police sources, the weapon was A knife. The attack took place in Central Square. Fraunhof.

Philip Muller, one of the organizers of the festival, appeared on stage and told the participants “Go easy on yourself; Please keep your eyes open as unfortunately the culprit has not been caught”. He said many people were injured “with a knife”.

Local newspaper Solinger Dayplot Journalist Celine Derigards was quoted as saying about the ceremony, “The atmosphere was terrible.” He said the party scene turned into a frenzy within minutes and he saw party goers crying.

Mayor Tim Kurzbach said in a Facebook post, “All of us in Solingen were shocked tonight. We all wanted to celebrate our city’s anniversary together, and now there are deaths and injuries to mourn”. “It breaks my heart that an attack was launched against our city,” he added.

A “diversity festival” commemorating the city’s 650th anniversary began on Friday and is scheduled to run through Sunday, with several stages in central streets offering attractions such as live music, cabaret and acrobatics.

Solingen has some 160,000 Population and is located near the major cities of Cologne and Dusseldorf.

Germany’s top security official, Interior Minister Nancy Fasser, has proposed tightening gun laws so that only knives with a blade of up to 6 centimeters (almost 2.4 inches) can be carried in public, instead of the 12 centimeters (4.7 inches) now allowed. .

According to police statistics, it was last year 9,000 cases Knife wounds in Germany.

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(With information from AP)