Three dead in knife attack at Solingen Festival

According to police, three people were killed and four others seriously injured in a knife attack in the western German city of Solingen.

The attack occurred on Friday evening during a party in the city center. The attacker is said to still be at large.

The Bild website says that a man randomly stabbed passers-by. A large-scale manhunt is underway and police helicopters can be seen over the city.

The industrial city celebrated its 650th anniversary.

City authorities urged people to leave the Fronhof market area while police set up security barriers following the attack at around 10 p.m. local time (9 p.m. CET).

According to media reports, rescue workers were on site and cared for the injured.

According to “Bild”, the police later deployed 40 police vehicles to hunt down the knife attacker.

The vehicles are commanded by SEK officers.

Streets were closed and residents were asked to remain in their homes while officers conducted their search.

According to the “Solinger Tageblatt”, the emergency services fought for the lives of nine people, said Philipp Müller, one of the festival organizers.

“People are shocked, but left the square peacefully,” said Müller.

Eyewitness Lars Breitzke told the newspaper that he knew something was wrong when he saw a singer on stage with a strange expression on his face.

“And then a person fell down just a meter away from me,” he said.

According to German media, the attacker intentionally stabbed his victims in the neck.

Police spokesman Alexander Kresta was quoted on the Spiegel website as saying: “We are currently assuming that it is a person,” after speaking to numerous eyewitnesses.

In a Facebook statement, Solingen's mayor Tim Kurzbach said: “This evening we are all in Solingen full of shock, horror and great sadness. We all wanted to celebrate our city's birthday together and now we have to mourn the dead and injured.”

“It breaks my heart that there was an attack in our city. I have tears in my eyes when I think of the people we lost. I pray for all those who are still fighting for their lives. My deepest sympathy also goes out to all those who had to experience this; these images must have been horrific.”

Speaking to the BBC on Friday, deputy editor of the Solinger Tageblatt, Björn Boch, said the celebrations were “supposed to last three days and the city was expecting 25,000 people every evening.”

“The city was just packed with people,” he said, estimating that “a few thousand people” attended Friday's free event.

The celebrations have now been cancelled.

Solingen – a city in North Rhine-Westphalia known for its steel industry – has about 160,000 inhabitants. It is located about 25 kilometers east of Düsseldorf and northeast of Cologne.