Knife attacker on the run after three dead, eight injured at German festival

Rescuers at the scene after the knife attack at the Solingen festival in Germany. Credit: YouTube screenshot

A manhunt is underway after an assailant killed three people and injured at least eight in a knife attack at a festival in Germany on Friday night. Five of the injured victims are in critical condition.

The event was celebrating the 650th anniversary of the German city of Solingen and its cultural diversity. The attack took place at Fronhof, a market square in the city centre, in front of one of the festival’s stages, which is set up for live music.

The city of Solingen was sealed off on Saturday as police sought to arrest the attacker.

Although police officials avoided calling the attack a terrorist incident, the motive was under investigation.

According to DeutscheWelle, the main problem with police investigations is the lack of information about the appearance or location of the attacker.

Massive police operation to search for knife attacker in Germany

Musician Topic, from Solingen, who was performing on a stage near where the stabbing took place, described on Instagram the moment he was approached with instructions by security personnel.

“They asked me to continue playing to avoid causing a general panic, because people had already been killed by a knife attacker.”

After 10 to 15 minutes, the crowd was finally informed of the incident.

“As the attacker was still on the run, we hid in a nearby store while police helicopters circled overhead,” Topic concludes.

Large areas of Solinger were cordoned off and barriers erected as police continued their search for the knife attackers on Saturday.

According to the German daily Bild, heavily armed units with forty special vehicles from all over North Rhine-Westphalia had been deployed to Solingen, with the support of the federal government.

“The brutal attack on the Solingen city festival has deeply shocked us. We mourn the people who lost their lives in this terrible way. My thoughts go to the families of those killed and seriously injured,” said Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.

“Our security authorities are doing everything they can to catch the perpetrator and determine the circumstances of the attack,” she added.

Chancellor Olaf Scholtz said on X that the culprit must be arrested quickly and punished to the full extent of the law.

Stricter laws to combat knife crime in Germany

At the beginning of August, Minister Faeser called for stricter laws to combat knife crime in Germany.

She suggested that only 6cm blades would be allowed in public, instead of the current 12cm, and that switchblades would be banned altogether.

Faeser expressed concern after police statistics recorded a 9.7 percent year-on-year increase in cases of serious bodily injury involving a knife, according to DeutscheWelle.