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Twelve injured after woman stabs people at Hamburg train station Woman arrested after 17 people injured in knife attack at Hamburg train station
(about 1 hour later)
Police say six victims critically wounded in attack by 39-year-old assailant in Germany’s second-largest city Four victims critically wounded in attack by 39-year-old assailant in Germany’s second-largest city
German police have arrested a woman after at least 12 people were injured in a knife attack at the main station in the northern city of Hamburg. German police have arrested a woman after 17 people were injured in a knife attack at the main station in the northern city of Hamburg.
Some of the injured sustained life-threatening injuries in the stabbing, emergency services said, although the exact number remained unclear. The attack happened at about 6.30pm local time (5.30pm BST), with Hamburg police saying on X that they were carrying out a major operation in Germany’s second-largest city.
Around 6:30pm local time (5:30pm BST), Hamburg police said on X they were carrying out a major operation at the main train station in Germany’s second-largest city. They later confirmed a 39-year-old German woman had been arrested without resisting and said that she was thought to have “acted alone”.
“A person injured several people with a knife at the main train station” and a suspect had been arrested, they said. Late last night, Hamburg’s fire service said 17 people were hurt in total – four of them with life-threatening injuries, another six with serious injuries and seven with light injuries, German news agency dpa reported.
The suspect, police subsequently said, was a 39-year-old woman who was thought to have “acted alone”. There did not appear to be any political motive for the attack, police said.
Police later said there was no sign of a political motive in the attack. “We have no evidence so far that the woman may have had a political motive,” local police spokesperson Florian Abbenseth told journalists at the scene, in comments broadcast by ARD public television.
“We have no evidence so far that the woman may have had a political motive,” local police spokesperson Florian Abbenseth told journalists at the scene, in comments broadcast by ARD public television. Police were instead pursuing the theory that the suspect may have “been experiencing a psychological emergency”. Police were instead pursuing the theory that the suspect may have “been experiencing a psychological emergency”.
A spokesperson for the Hamburg fire department said 12 people had been injured in the knife attack. The office of the chancellor, Friedrich Merz, said the newly-elected German leader was appalled by the news and told Hamburg’s mayor, Peter Tschentscher, in a phone call yesterday evening that his “thoughts are with the victims and their relatives”.
Among them were “six people with life-threatening injuries”, they said. German media however reported the number of people with very severe injuries was lower. The suspect was thought to have carried out the attack “against passengers” at the station, a spokesperson for the Hanover federal police directorate, which also covers Hamburg, told AFP earlier last night.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s office said the German leader was appalled by the news and told Hamburg mayor Peter Tschentscher in a call Friday evening that “my thoughts are with the victims and their relatives”.
The attack took place around 6:00pm in the middle of rush hour at the end of the working week, according to German media.
The suspect was thought to have carried out the attack “against passengers” at the station, a spokesperson for the Hanover federal police directorate, which also covers Hamburg, told AFP.
Images of the scene showed access to the platforms at one end of the station blocked off by police and people being loaded into waiting ambulances.Images of the scene showed access to the platforms at one end of the station blocked off by police and people being loaded into waiting ambulances.
Some of the victims in the attack were being treated onboard waiting trains in the station, Bild reported. Later images showed forensics teams carefully examining the station.
German rail operator Deutsche Bahn said on X that four platforms at the station had been closed and the incident would lead to “delays and diversions in long-distance services”. Some of the victims in the attack were being treated onboard waiting trains in the station, Bild reported shortly after the attack.
The German rail operator Deutsche Bahn said on X that four platforms at the station had been closed.
The incident would lead to “delays and diversions in long-distance servi-ces”, the rail operator said on X.
Carrying weapons, including knives, is banned at the station and on local transport in Hamburg.
Germany has been rocked in recent months by a series of violent attacks with often jihadist or far-right extremist motivations that have put security at the top of the agenda.Germany has been rocked in recent months by a series of violent attacks with often jihadist or far-right extremist motivations that have put security at the top of the agenda.
In the most recent attack, four people were injured in a stabbing at a bar in the city of Bielefeld on Sunday. In the most recent attack, four people were injured in a stabbing at a bar in the city of Bielefeld in north-west Germany, on Sunday.