10 March 2017•Update: 10 March 2017
By Ayhan Simsek
BERLIN
At least seven people were injured Thursday in an axe attack at a train station in northern Germany, according to police officials.
A spokesman for the Duesseldorf Police told reporters the suspected assailant tried to escape but was arrested near the city’s central station and was taken to the hospital after sustaining severe injuries.
The suspect is a 36-year-old male who resides in Wupperthal, a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, according to a police statement that said he "has mental problems” and is originally from former Yugoslavia. The axe used in the attack was recovered.
"His motivation remains totally unclear,” a police official said earlier.
One victim suffered serious injuries and was rushed to the hospital, police said.
Special police forces searched the station for a possible second suspect who might have been involved in the attack but authorities have not provided information about the results.
Last year, Germany witnessed five major terror attacks, that were carried out by radicalized young people with suspected links to the Daesh terrorist group.
In July, three victims were injured in an axe attack on a train in southern Germany. Police found a hand-drawn Daesh flag in the room of an Afghan migrant who attacked passengers.
The bloodiest attack occurred Dec. 19 in Berlin in which 12 victims were killed and dozens of others injured when a truck plowed into crowds at a Christmas market.
