Dusseldorf station attack: 'Several injured' after man goes on axe rampage
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Anti-terror police have sealed off Dusseldorf station in Germany after reports of an attack involving a man armed with an axe.
"Several people" are believed to have been injured and images posted on social media showed paramedics treating the wounded.
Two suspects are believed to have been detained by police but the motive for the attack is currently unknown.
Trains are not stopping at the station.
The attack comes months after a terrorist attack on a Christmas market in Berlin killed 12 and injured 56 more after a lorry was driven into crowds of shoppers.
Dusseldorf station attack: 'Several injured' after man goes on axe rampage | The Independent
Suspects 'on the run' after several injured in axe attack at Dusseldorf train station
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Several people have been injured in an axe attack at Dusseldorf train station.
Police spokesman Rainer Kerstiens told The Associated Press that more suspected attackers are believed to be on the run.
The station has been sealed off by armed police and trains are not stopping at the station.
German newspaper Bild reported that two suspect has been taken into custody, while two others were on the run.
Four people were apparently injured in the attack.
Bruno Macedo tweeted: "Breaking: Man with axe chased by police in Dusseldorf. Station closed . I am in the train things look bad #police #terror"
He added: "Stay away from #Dusseldorf train station crazy man with #axe on the lose (sic)"
The Dusseldorf attack comes less than three months after a lorry was driven into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12.
More to follow.
Suspects 'on the run' after several injured in axe attack at Dusseldorf train station
Dusseldorf Train Station Axe Attack: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know
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A man with an axe attacked several people at the main train station in Dusseldorf, Germany, on Thursday, authorities and witnesses say.
It is not known how many people were injured.
This is a breaking story and will be updated. Here is what we know so far:
1. A Suspect Was Taken Into Custody at the Train Station by Police
The suspect was taken into custody at the train station, the German newspaper Bild reports.
His identity has not yet been released.
Police said there is no evidence of any other suspects, according to Bild, which previously reported a second man had been taken into custody and two others were being sought.
2. Police Haven’t Released a Motive for the Attack
Police have not yet released a motive for the attack. It is has also not yet been called terrorism.
According to Bild, the suspect randomly attacked four or five people with the axe.
The Rheinische Post reports a 13-year-old girl was among those injured. A witness told the newspaper he helped treat the girl’s wound and get her to her father.
The newspaper also reports a 20-year-old man suffered a head injury and was pulled onto a train by friends to escape the attacker.
3. Trains Are Not Stopping at the Station & Witnesses Reported a Large Police Presence
Passengers on trains tweeted that they were not stopping at the Dusseldorf station because of the incident.
A video from the scene shows blood on the ground and emergency responders appearing to give treatment to a victim:
Witnesses said there was a large police presence at the station, and reported chaos when the attack occurred.
A police helicopter was circling above the station and witnesses said there were anti-terror police at the scene among the heavily armed officers.
4. A Man With an Axe Was Fatally Shot After Attacking 4 People on a German Train Last Year
Five people were injured on July 18, 2016, when a man with an axe attacked passengers on a train in Wuerzburg in Southern Germany, according to the BBC.
The attacker, an asylum seeker from Pakistan named Muhammed Riyad, was fatally shot by police.
Police said Riyad left behind a martyrdom video and was instructed to carry out the attack by ISIS.
5. German Authorities Have Been on High Alert After Multiple Terror Attacks
German authorities have been on high alert for possible terrorist activity in recent years after a series of deadly attacks in the country, including the Wuerzburg train attack.
In December, 12 people were killed and 48 were injured in an ISIS-inspired truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin. In July 2016, a suicide bomber detonated an explosive outside a wine bar in Ansbach. Twelve people were injured, but the bomber was the only person killed.
Dusseldorf Axe Attack: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know | Heavy.com
Suspect in German train attack was an asylum seeker from Kosovo
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BERLIN — The suspect in an ax attack at a German train station that wounded nine people Thursday was a mentally disturbed asylum seeker from Kosovo, officials said Friday. They said there was no indication of any political or religious motive for the attack.
German police swarmed the main train station in Düsseldorf around 9 p.m. Thursday after a man on a commuter train began striking exiting passengers with an ax, officials said.
The suspect in the attack was identified in the German news outlet Spiegel Online as 36-year-old Fatmir H. On Friday, police found a doctor’s diagnosis inside the suspect’s apartment, some 20 miles away in the city of Wuppertal, as well as medication indicating that he was paranoid schizophrenic, according to Dietmar Kneib of the North Rhine-Westphalia state criminal police.
The suspect was being treated at a hospital for severe injuries suffered after he jumped off a bridge to try to escape police. Of the nine victims, four suffered serious injuries, though none were in critical condition, officials said.
“Apparently it was a psychological disorder of the perpetrator that led to the deed,” Kneib said.
There were no indications of terrorism-related motives, Kneib said. But the bloody rampage nevertheless marked the latest act of violence by an asylum seeker to rock Germany. The nation has suffered a series of attacks in recent months, including an assault on a Christmas market in December that left 12 dead. Islamist militants who entered Germany masquerading as migrants have committed some of the attacks, but Thursday’s incident also punctuated concerns over violence not related to terrorism.
The suspect was not part of the wave of more than 1 million migrants who have arrived in Germany over the past two years, officials said. He arrived in 2009 and was granted a residence permit on humanitarian grounds
The attack occurred as a commuter train pulled into Düsseldorf central station shortly before 9 p.m. local time. The attacker suddenly started to hit passengers with an ax from behind, officials said. One of the passengers managed to push the attacker off the train, and the conductor closed the door, preventing potential further injuries, officials said.
According to police, the attacker tried to get back into the train by beating and kicking the door. When he was unsuccessful, he began walking up and down the platform and downstairs into the main hall. When police officers approached, the man fled across the tracks. The chase ended with the attacker jumping off a nearby bridge.
The suspect’s brother, who knew about his mental issues and that he had recently bought an ax, had reported him missing the day of the attack, authorities said. Police said Friday that they have not been able to question the suspect because of his injuries.
Among the victims was a 13-year-old girl who suffered severe arm injuries and two Italian tourists. Besides the girl, the other victims are between 30 and 50 years of age, officials said.
More than 500 officers were involved in the police operation, including special forces.
An amateur video apparently shot from the scene showed a shellshocked eyewitness walking around bloodstained floors as police tend to a wounded person on the ground.
“The guy just started striking at people with an ax,” the unidentified man in the video says. “I’ve never seen anything like that in my life. Directly next to me he started hitting people with an ax.”
Noack reported from London. Stephanie Kircher in Berlin contributed to this report.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world...=.de96f5697b84
Eighty-year-old man is attacked with a machete in second violent incident
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An 80-year-old man has been attacked with a machete in a car park, near a forest in Dusseldorf, just hours after a Kosovan went on an axe rampage in the city's railway station.
According to police, the man's injuries are not life threatening and the attack is not connected to last night's attack on Dusseldorf station.
Dusseldorf machete attack on man hours after axe rampage | Daily Mail Online
Hamburg tear gas attack - Children left with burning eyes & breathing problems
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TWO YOUNG children were treated for burning eyes and breathing problems after a tear gas attack on a packed train in Hamburg this evening.
A police operation has been launched in Hamburg after suspicious fumes were detected
Two "youths" have fled the scene after spraying the toxic substance in a carriage carrying around 50 people.
Several people, including two children aged three and six, were hurt and treated by first responders.
The children suffered respiratory and eye problems - although their injuries are not thought to be serious.
One photo showed a paramedic consoling an upset children with a balloon fashioned from a first aid glove.
Four adults have also been injured. Their injuries are also not thought to be lasting.
The train was headed towards Hamburg Airport when the incident occurred.
Police are now hunting down the pair who carried out the attack.
According to witnesses a large police and fire service presence remains at the scene around an hour after the incident.
The incident at an underground metro stop in the Sternschanze quarter of the city in Germany.
It comes just one day after several people were injured after a man from Kosovo went on a rampage at a train staiton in Dusseldorf.
He attempted to flee but was arrested as he attempted to jump from a ledge. He was described by police as suffering from a mental illness.
This is a breaking story. More to follow...
'Suspicious fumes' at Hamburg metro station sparks police operation | World | News | Express.co.uk
Plot to hit German shopping centre with multiple suicide bombers is foiled
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Police in Essen, Germany, have olosed a shopping centre after reports of an imminent suicide attack.
The Limbecker Platz shopping center is one of the largest in Germany with around 200 shops
About a hundred officers positioned themselves around the compound to make sure no-one could enter
Several officers scoured the inside of the building to bring out early morning cleaning staff
This incident comes just a day after seven people were injured in an attack in Dusseldorf
Police in the German city of Essen have ordered a shopping centre to remain closed on Saturday after a tip from security services of 'concrete indications about a possible attack'.
It was reported by German newspaper Bild that multiple suicide bombers were plotting to attack the Limbecker Platz centre with explosives.
This afternoon police said they had searched an apartment in the nearby town of Oberhausen and the owner was being questioned. Police later said they had detained another man in an internet cafe in the same town.
However, in a later statement police said the pair 'are not suspects' in the case.
'The current state of our investigations points to the threat being exclusively at the shopping centre,' said the police in a statement.
The shopping center and the adjacent car park stayed closed as about a hundred police officers positioned themselves around the compound to make sure no-one could enter.
Several officers scoured the inside of the building to bring out early morning cleaning staff.
Police added that parking garages and the nearest underground rail station had also been closed.
'Police have concrete indications of a possible attack,' a spokesperson for North Rhine Westphalia Police said.
'In order to avoid possible danger to visitors, they will not be able to enter the shopping halls or the car park.'
The mall is one of the biggest in Germany with more than 200 stores, according to the shopping center's website.
Interior ministry spokesman Tobias Plate said the operation was being handled by the local police force but added that his ministry was in 'constant touch' with the GTAZ, a joint counter-terrorism centre used by 40 internal security agencies.
A police spokesman said outside the centre: 'Right now we have completely closed the shopping centre in Limbecker Square.
'Yesterday we received lots of hints, which had to be taken seriously, that there might have been the possibility of an attack on the centre today.
'We have decided to remain here and have mobilised lots of our security and police forces who are making sure that nobody gets into the shopping centre at all today.
'I suspect that the shopping centre will be remain closed for the duration of the day.'
In 2016, three people were injured in an attack on a Sikh temple in Essen by radicalized German-born Muslim teenagers.
The incident comes just a day after seven people including two police officers were injured when a man wielding an axe went on the rampage at a train station in Dusseldorf.
The suspected culprit, identified as Fatmir H, from Kosovo, has been arrested and German anti-terror police confirmed they are not hunting anyone else.
The 36-year-old ran towards a nearby underground station and jumped from a bridge as he attempted to flee.
On social media the shopping centre wrote: 'The Limbecker Platz is this Saturday closed for safety reasons.
'The police [have] concrete indications for a possible attack.
'To eliminate the potential threat to visitors, the closure has been established.
'We apologize for any inconvenience.'
Essen, in the industrial Ruhr region, has nearly 600,000 inhabitants.
Last July, a German-Iranian who police say was obsessed with mass murderers including a Norwegian right-wing fanatic shot dead nine people at a Munich shopping mall before turning the gun on himself.
Domestic security officials estimate there are some 10,000 radical Islamists in German, with roughly 1,600 among them suspected of being capable of violence.
Bunch of pics in link:
Police close German shopping centre over possible attack[at] | Daily Mail Online
Reuters:
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ge...-idUSKBN16I07I
Three planned terror attack at German mall
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Three would-be suicide bombers planned to attack a German shopping centre by detonating explosives in rucksacks, according to media reports revealing details of the weekend threat that led to the mall's closure.
Germany's Die Welt newspaper reported on Monday that the suspects had planned to carry out the attack in the city of Essen on Saturday at 4:30 pm (0230 AEST, Sunday).
The mastermind was identified in the report as 24-year-old Imran Reme Q, a man from the nearby city of Oberhausen, who is thought to have travelled to Syria via Turkey in April 2015 to support Islamic State forces in the conflict there.
He had reportedly been on the radar of German authorities as a potentially dangerous person since 2015. Die Welt said that he had recruited several radical Islamists on behalf of the extremist organisation via social media.
Prosecutors in Dusseldorf confirmed that the attack had been planned by a 24-year-old from Oberhausen. They said the suspect had arranged an exact time and location for the bombings.
"This command was given via social media," spokesman Mathias Proyer said, without giving further details.
Authorities ordered the closure of the centre on Saturday, which was followed by armed police encircling the complex.
Two men detained in connection with the incident have since been released, a police spokesman said earlier Monday.
The shopping centre has since reopened. "We are all back at work," centre manager Alexandra Wagner told reporters.
"Life goes on," she added.
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said security services had alerted police to the possibility of an attack on the Limbecker Platz shopping centre, one of the biggest in Germany's inner cities.
Ralf Jaeger, the interior minister for the North Rhine Westphalia region, stressed that investigations had so far shown no signs "that implementation or preparations had actually begun" for a terrorist attack.
Three planned terror attack at German mall
Package found at German finance ministry contained explosives: police
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A suspicious package found at the German Finance Ministry in Berlin on Wednesday contained explosives, police said, adding that the item was found in an area where mail is processed.
A spokeswoman for the ministry declined to comment, saying an investigation was underway.
"The first investigation results show that the package contained a so-called explosives mixture, which is frequently used to produce pyrotechnics. It was designed to cause considerable injuries when the package was opened," police said in a statement.
(Reporting by Thorsten Severin and Michael Nienaber; Writing by Joseph Nasr; Editing by Michelle Martin)
Package found at German finance ministry contained explosives: police | Reuters
Yerman:
Finanzministerium: Paket mit Sprengstoff stammt aus Griechenland - SPIEGEL ONLINE
