Deutsche Welle :
Three people were killed and five seriously injured in a knife attack in the western German city of Solingen on Friday.
Police said they had launched a “major operation to find the suspect, who escaped in the turmoil and panic that initially spread after the crime.”
According to media reports, a man stabbed passers-by at random with a knife at a festival celebrating the city’s 650th anniversary.
The local newspaper Solinger Tageblatt reported that three people had been killed and others were in a life-threatening situation.
In the wake of the attack, the city of Solingen has completely canceled its 650th anniversary celebrations.
The events scheduled for this Saturday and Sunday have also been canceled, the city announced Saturday night.
The incident took place at Fronhof, a marketplace in the center of the city, where a stage had been set up for live music. Police were alerted shortly after 9:30pm local time.
Authorities asked residents to leave the city center following the attack. Müller took to the stage and told festivalgoers to “go calmly; please keep your eyes open, because unfortunately the perpetrator hasn’t been caught.”
The police have issued a major alert and declared a manhunt. Armed officers were on the scene and had cordoned off large areas of the city. Barriers were also set up across the city.
According to the German daily Bild, heavily armed SEK units with about 40 special vehicles from all over North Rhine-Westphalia had been deployed to Solingen.
Road junctions have been blocked and residents have been asked to stay indoors and avoid the city center, the publication said.
According to German news agency DPA, the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Herbert Reul, had arrived in Solingen and was visiting the site of the incident.
He warned against speculation. “Out of nowhere, someone is stabbing people at random. Nothing can be said about the person or the motive,” Reul said, adding that there are simply no reliable facts.
Solingen has a population of about 160,000. It is located near the larger cities of Cologne and Düsseldorf in Germany’s most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia.
The incident left those attending the festivities in shock. One witness told the Solinger Tageblatt he had been standing in front of the stage on the Fronhof when the attack took place just a few meters away from him.