Germany (Solingen): Three dead in knife attack

Three people are dead and at least eight injured after the knife attack in Solingen. Politicians react with shock. An overview of the reactions.

During a city festival in Solingen in North Rhine-Westphalia, a previously unknown and fleeing man attacked several people with a knife at around 9.40 pm on Friday evening. According to current information, three people were killed and eight injured in the attack, five of them seriously. The victims were deliberately stabbed in the neck. The perpetrator is being sought by a large police force, according to the Düsseldorf police. Politicians are horrified by the attack.

Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser expressed her shock: "We mourn for the people who were torn from their lives in such a terrible way," the SPD politician wrote on the short messaging service on Saturday. "My thoughts are with the families of those killed and with those seriously injured."

The security authorities would do everything in their power to arrest the perpetrator and determine the background. The police in North Rhine-Westphalia have every support from the federal government. "I am in ongoing contact with NRW Interior Minister Herbert Reul and our security authorities," said Faeser.

North Rhine-Westphalia is united in shock and grief, wrote North Rhine-Westphalia's Minister-President Hendrik Wüst on the short message service. In these dark hours, the people of our state and beyond are in Solingen with their hearts and thoughts. He thanked the emergency services and the police and wrote: "An act of the most brutal and senseless violence has struck our country in the heart."

North Rhine-Westphalia Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) was also visibly shocked. Out of nowhere, someone stabbed people indiscriminately, said Reul, who had arrived in Solingen during the night. We in North Rhine-Westphalia are deeply shocked and united in grief.

The mayor of Solingen, Tim Kurzbach, wrote on Facebook, "We all wanted to celebrate our city anniversary together, and now we have to mourn the dead and injured. He continued, it tears my heart apart that there was an attack on our city. I have tears in my eyes when I think of those we have lost. I pray for all those who are still fighting for their lives".

Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne promised the victims and their families that he would pray for them in these difficult hours. At the same time, he thanked all the rescue and security forces as well as chaplains for their efforts. The brutal attack on human life in Solingen leaves me stunned and deeply saddened, wrote the Archbishop of Cologne, on Saturday morning. "My prayers are with the victims and their families in these difficult hours. But I am also thinking of all the people of Solingen who met for a peaceful celebration and are now left shocked and full of unanswered questions."

Francis Tawiah (Duisburg-Germany)