Latest news with #BavarianRedCross
Telegraph
03-07-2025
- Telegraph
German train passengers overpower Syrian axeman
Passengers on a high-speed train in Bavaria fought and overpowered a man after he started attacking people with an axe. The suspect, reportedly a Syrian citizen, lashed out at travellers on the German intercity train, which was en route to Austria on Thursday afternoon. One of the passengers managed to take the weapon and use it to stop the attacker, according to the German tabloid Bild. After passengers pulled the train's emergency brake, police arrested the suspect, who was said to have been seriously injured. Three passengers received moderate injuries while a fourth was lightly injured. Sohrab Taheri-Sohi, a spokesman for the Bavarian Red Cross, said: 'Due to a violent incident on an intercity train, there was a large deployment of emergency responders. 'According to our current information, multiple people were injured – one seriously injured, three moderately injured and one lightly injured.' Around 500 passengers were on board at the time of the attack. Mass stabbing or car-ramming attacks have become increasingly common in Germany, with many committed by mentally ill people or asylum seekers facing deportation orders. In May, a mentally ill German woman injured 17 people in a knife attack outside Hamburg Central railway station. In February, an Afghan asylum seeker crashed his car into a crowd of people taking part in a trade union march in Munich. It was the day before the Munich Security Conference, which was attended by world leaders. Last September, a Syrian refugee killed three people and injured eight others in a stabbing attack on a festival celebrating diversity in the western city of Solingen. The train attack came after Austrian authorities said they had deported a convicted Syrian criminal back to Syria on Thursday, in what they described as the first such case since the fall of the Assad regime in December last year. According to Krone, an Austrian newspaper, the deported Syrian is a 32-year-old 'fanatic' with links to Islamic State. Before being deported, he was serving a seven-year prison sentence. The newspaper cited Austrian intelligence sources, who said they could not give further details of the nature of his crimes for 'security reasons'. The interior ministry said the removal of the unnamed man was part of a 'strict and thus fair asylum policy'. Gerhard Karner, the interior minister from Austria's centre-Right Austrian People's Party (OVP), vowed to 'continue this chosen path with hard work and determination'. Since the fall of the Assad regime, some EU countries have been eager for refugees to return to Syria. Britain, among other European countries, paused the processing of new asylum claims from Syrians, based on the view that Syria would become safer under its new president, the rebel leader Ahmed Hussein al-Sharaa. Austria took the same step and also stopped family reunifications. Around 100,000 Syrians live in the country, one of the biggest concentrations in Europe, while nearly a million Syrians live in neighbouring Germany. Austria's government, sworn in last March, consists of the centre-Right OVP and the centre-Left Social Democratic Party. Both factions are under intense political pressure to get tougher on migration, having come second and third place behind the far-Right Austrian Freedom Party (FPO) in last September's elections. Despite coming first place in the polls, FPO failed to form a coalition government after the result, as Austria's other political parties considered it too extreme to govern. Herbert Kickl, the leader of FPO, is sympathetic towards Russia and controversially once called for asylum seekers to be 'concentrated in one place', in what critics said was a deliberate allusion to Nazi camps. Mr Kickl strongly denies this. The FPO was founded in 1956 and first led by Anton Reinthaller, a former SS cavalry officer and Nazi minister.
Powys County Times
03-07-2025
- Powys County Times
Four people injured in hammer attack on German train, police say
A man on a long-distance train in southern Germany attacked and slightly injured four people with a hammer before he was detained by police, authorities said. Police in Straubing said the attack happened on an ICE express train headed to the Austrian capital, Vienna, while it was between Straubing and Plattling in the southern state of Bavaria. About 500 people were on board when the attack happened, police said. About 150 police officers, firefighters and emergency personnel were deployed to the scene, police added. The railway line was closed down. Police initially said the perpetrator used an axe in the attack but later said he allegedly used a hammer and most likely other weapons which they did not name. They identified the man as a 20-year-old Syrian national. Three of the four injured passengers were also Syrians, a boy of 15 and two men aged 24 and 51. The fourth victim was a 38-year-old passenger whose nationality was not yet known, police said. All four injured passengers were taken to nearby hospitals. Police did not provide further details on the identity of the attacker or his motive, but later said that he was overpowered by fellow passengers and had also been injured. The perpetrator 'is probably somewhat more seriously injured', a police spokesperson told German news agency dpa. He was in police custody and receiving medical treatment. According to the Bavarian Red Cross, the emergency services were alerted at around 2pm local time on Thursday, after passengers pulled the emergency brakes. The Red Cross said a special care centre was set up nearby to take care of passengers. In addition to numerous rescue services and two helicopters, psychological caregivers were deployed to help those who were not injured but might have been traumatised. German rail operator Deutsche Bahn said in a statement that 'our thoughts and sympathy are with the injured and all those who now have to come to terms with what they have experienced', and thanked the emergency services for the quick arrest of the suspect.
Leader Live
03-07-2025
- Leader Live
Four people injured in hammer attack on German train, police say
Police in Straubing said the attack happened on an ICE express train headed to the Austrian capital, Vienna, while it was between Straubing and Plattling in the southern state of Bavaria. About 500 people were on board when the attack happened, police said. About 150 police officers, firefighters and emergency personnel were deployed to the scene, police added. The railway line was closed down. Police initially said the perpetrator used an axe in the attack but later said he allegedly used a hammer and most likely other weapons which they did not name. They identified the man as a 20-year-old Syrian national. Three of the four injured passengers were also Syrians, a boy of 15 and two men aged 24 and 51. The fourth victim was a 38-year-old passenger whose nationality was not yet known, police said. All four injured passengers were taken to nearby hospitals. Police did not provide further details on the identity of the attacker or his motive, but later said that he was overpowered by fellow passengers and had also been injured. The perpetrator 'is probably somewhat more seriously injured', a police spokesperson told German news agency dpa. He was in police custody and receiving medical treatment. According to the Bavarian Red Cross, the emergency services were alerted at around 2pm local time on Thursday, after passengers pulled the emergency brakes. The Red Cross said a special care centre was set up nearby to take care of passengers. In addition to numerous rescue services and two helicopters, psychological caregivers were deployed to help those who were not injured but might have been traumatised. German rail operator Deutsche Bahn said in a statement that 'our thoughts and sympathy are with the injured and all those who now have to come to terms with what they have experienced', and thanked the emergency services for the quick arrest of the suspect.
South Wales Guardian
03-07-2025
- South Wales Guardian
Four people injured in hammer attack on German train, police say
Police in Straubing said the attack happened on an ICE express train headed to the Austrian capital, Vienna, while it was between Straubing and Plattling in the southern state of Bavaria. About 500 people were on board when the attack happened, police said. About 150 police officers, firefighters and emergency personnel were deployed to the scene, police added. The railway line was closed down. Police initially said the perpetrator used an axe in the attack but later said he allegedly used a hammer and most likely other weapons which they did not name. They identified the man as a 20-year-old Syrian national. Police did not provide further details on the identity of the attacker or his motive, but later said that he was overpowered by fellow passengers and had also been injured. The perpetrator 'is probably somewhat more seriously injured', a police spokesperson told German news agency dpa. He was in police custody and receiving medical treatment. The four injured passengers, who were not identified, were taken to nearby hospitals. According to the Bavarian Red Cross, the emergency services were alerted at around 2pm local time on Thursday, after passengers pulled the emergency brakes. The Red Cross said a special care centre was set up nearby to take care of passengers. In addition to numerous rescue services and two helicopters, psychological caregivers were deployed to help those who were not injured but might have been traumatised. German rail operator Deutsche Bahn said in a statement that 'our thoughts and sympathy are with the injured and all those who now have to come to terms with what they have experienced', and thanked the emergency services for the quick arrest of the suspect.
South Wales Argus
03-07-2025
- South Wales Argus
Four people injured in hammer attack on German train, police say
Police in Straubing said the attack happened on an ICE express train headed to the Austrian capital, Vienna, while it was between Straubing and Plattling in the southern state of Bavaria. About 500 people were on board when the attack happened, police said. About 150 police officers, firefighters and emergency personnel were deployed to the scene, police added. The railway line was closed down. Police initially said the perpetrator used an axe in the attack but later said he allegedly used a hammer and most likely other weapons which they did not name. They identified the man as a 20-year-old Syrian national. Police did not provide further details on the identity of the attacker or his motive, but later said that he was overpowered by fellow passengers and had also been injured. The perpetrator 'is probably somewhat more seriously injured', a police spokesperson told German news agency dpa. He was in police custody and receiving medical treatment. The four injured passengers, who were not identified, were taken to nearby hospitals. According to the Bavarian Red Cross, the emergency services were alerted at around 2pm local time on Thursday, after passengers pulled the emergency brakes. The Red Cross said a special care centre was set up nearby to take care of passengers. In addition to numerous rescue services and two helicopters, psychological caregivers were deployed to help those who were not injured but might have been traumatised. German rail operator Deutsche Bahn said in a statement that 'our thoughts and sympathy are with the injured and all those who now have to come to terms with what they have experienced', and thanked the emergency services for the quick arrest of the suspect.
