Stabbing in Solingen: Three killed in attack on festival in Germany | Crime News

Police say they are searching for an unknown attacker after an attack on festival-goers that left eight people injured.

Police in Germany are searching for an unidentified suspect behind a mass stabbing at a festival in the western city of Solingen that left three people dead.

Eight people were injured, five of them seriously, as thousands gathered in a central square to mark the 650th anniversary of the founding of the city of Solingen, police said on Saturday. Among the dead were a woman and two men.

“Victims and witnesses are currently being questioned,” police in the nearby city of Duesseldorf said in a statement early Saturday, adding that a “large force” of officers was searching for the perpetrator.

An unidentified man attacked several people with a knife at around 9:40 p.m. (19:40 GMT) on Friday, police said.

Police said the attack took place at a diversity festival in the city of Solingen, which is located in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state and borders the Netherlands.

The events were supposed to continue until Sunday, with several stages set up on the central streets and entertainment such as live music, cabaret and acrobatics. Solingen has a population of around 160,000 and is located near the larger cities of Cologne and Düsseldorf.

Police warned residents who noticed anything suspicious on Saturday not to act on their own but to call the police emergency number.

“We have no clue yet where he is,” a police spokesman said. No description of the suspect has been provided, the German news agency DPA reported.

North Rhine-Westphalia’s interior minister, Herbert Reul, visited the scene early Saturday morning and told reporters it was a targeted attack on human life, but declined to speculate on the motive.

Fatal stabbings and shootings are relatively rare in Germany.

Interior Minister Nancy Faeser recently proposed tightening gun laws to only allow knives with a blade length of up to 6cm (2.4 inches) to be carried in public places, instead of the current permitted length of 12cm (4.7 inches).

“It breaks my heart that there has been an attack on our city. Tears well up in my eyes when I think of those we have lost,” Solingen Mayor Tim Oliver Kurzbach said in a statement. “I pray for all those who are still fighting for their lives.

“This evening, we are all faced with shock, horror and deep sadness in Solingen. We all wanted to celebrate the anniversary of our city together, and now we have to mourn the dead and wounded,” Kurzbach wrote.