Knife attack in Solingen: Police search for three dead at Diversity Festival in Germany – Live updates | Germany

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen A statement on X said: “Deeply shocked by the brutal and insidious attack in Solingen. My thoughts are with the relatives of the dead and injured, to whom I wish a speedy recovery. We need clarity about the background to this act as soon as possible.”

Von der Leyen is a German politician. She held cabinet posts in Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic (CDU) government, including as Minister of Defense.

People have started laying flowers and candles at the crime scene in Solingen.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke to the mayor of Solingen this morning.

In a statement, Steinmeier said: “The heinous act in Solingen shocks me and our country. We mourn the dead and worry about the injured. I wish them strength and a speedy recovery from the bottom of my heart.”

“The perpetrator must be brought to justice. Let us stand together against hatred and violence.”

The band that was scheduled to play on stage near the attack site released a statement on Facebook.

The Udo Lindenberg tribute band “Der Udonaut und die Paniker” was supposed to play on the Fronhof stage at 10 p.m. The attack occurred at around 9:40 p.m. and the performance was cancelled.

The band announced: “We were supposed to play at the Fronhof in Solingen tonight,” the band wrote on Facebook. “Unfortunately, the festival was interrupted by a gruesome attack at this very place. We are safe! Please take care of yourselves.”

The Düsseldorf police and the state capital's public prosecutor's office will hold a press conference at 3 p.m. local time (2 p.m. CEST), reports Der Spiegel.

They will speak about the current status of the investigation at the police headquarters in Wuppertal, a city near Solingen. Solingen's mayor Tim Kurzbach is also expected.

In Solingen, celebrations for the city's 650th anniversary were taking place when the attacker struck last night.

Celebrations included a weekend-long diversity festival to mark the anniversary, which began last night.

The event included several stages in central streets, offering attractions such as live music, cabaret and acrobatics. The main focus of the events was the stages at Neumarkt, Mühlenplatz and Fronhof, the scene of yesterday's attack.

Organizers said they hoped to “celebrate the future in solidarity and sustainability.”

The festival was supposed to run until Sunday, but was cancelled by the organisers after last night's attack.

The police are still searching for the attacker in the city of Solingen and the surrounding area.

Solingen, where the attack took place last night at a diversity festival, is a city in western Germany with around 160,000 inhabitants.

The city is located in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous federal state in Germany, which borders the Netherlands.

It is located about 24 kilometers east of Düsseldorf and a similar distance northeast of Cologne.

The police are urging the residents of Solingen to continue to be cautious, reported the German newspaper “Der Spiegel”.

“People in the city center should be careful,” said a spokesman for the Düsseldorf police. “Anyone who sees a suspicious person should immediately call the emergency number 110 and not speak to them.”

The President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, also condemned the attack and hoped that the injured would recover quickly.

“I am deeply shocked by this terrible attack on innocent citizens at the city festival in Solingen. Hatred and violence must have no place in our society. My thoughts are with the victims and their families. I wish the injured a speedy recovery,” she said in a post on X.

The German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbockwrote in a post on X: “The perfidious attack in Solingen on people who were celebrating the 650th anniversary of their city has shocked me deeply. My thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims. And my thanks go to the security forces who are searching intensively for the perpetrator.”

Perpetrators “must be caught quickly and punished to the fullest extent possible under the law,” says Scholz

According to North Rhine-Westphalia’s Interior Minister Herbert Reul, the dead in last night’s attack were a woman and two men, reports the German daily newspaper “Die Welt”.

One of the festival organizers, Philipp Müllerappeared on stage during the attack and asked those present to “stay calm. Please keep your eyes open because unfortunately the perpetrator has not yet been caught.”

The clip can be seen in the video at the top of this page (from 0:28).

Here are some of the latest pictures from Solingen: