DUSSELDORF, Germany – An axe-wielding attacker suffering from mental health problems injured seven people at the main train station in the German city of Dusseldorf late Thursday, police told AFP.
Previously, police had said several attackers were involved and two were arrested but they later said one suspect was behind the assault, a 36-year-old man from the former Yugoslavia.
“An assailant probably armed with an axe attacked people at random” at about 8:50 p.m. local time, city police said in a statement.
Police initially gave the number of injured as five, but updated that to seven in a later statement.
While trying to escape, the man jumped from a bridge and suffered serious injuries from the fall, the statement said.
He was not in a position to be interrogated, German news agency DPA reported.
Large numbers of police, including special units, were deployed at the station and traffic was halted. Bild newspaper reported that helicopters flew overhead.
“Interruption at the central station in Dusseldorf. We can’t say when the trains will start running again,” regional police said on Twitter.
“We were on the platform waiting for the train. The train arrived and suddenly someone with an axe came out and started attacking people,” an unnamed witness told Bild. “There was blood everywhere,” the witness was quoted as saying. (AFP)
