Germany mass stabbing latest: Manhunt for suspect on run after knife attack in Solingen leaves three dead

It’s feared the attacker deliberately aimed for victims’ throats in the mass stabbing, which killed three and injured eight.

One police spokesperson claimed the perpetrator had specifically targeted the throat area.

However a second spokesperson later declined to confirm or deny that detail to Reuters news agency.

More details about the atrocity are expected to be revealed at a news conference on Saturday afternoon.

• Three people have been killed and eight injured, including five seriously, in a mass stabbing at a festival in Solingen, west Germany
• Police are still hunting for the attacker following the horrific incident at around 9.40pm on Friday
• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for the assailant to be captured quickly and face the full force of the law
• Officials are working to establish information about the attacker and their motive

A German musician who goes by the name Topic said he was playing on a nearby stage when the incident occurred.

The DJ revealed he was told about the attack but was asked to continue “to avoid causing a mass panic attack”, he posted on Instagram.

He was eventually told to stop and “since the attacker was still on the run, we hid in a nearby store while police helicopters circled above us,” Topic wrote.

The party atmosphere among festival-goers turned to shock within minutes after the attack unfolded, according to local reports.

The local newspaper Solinger Tageblatt quoted Celine Derikartz, its reporter covering the festival, as saying that she saw festival-goers weeping as news of the horror spread.

One of the festival organisers, Philipp Müller, appeared on stage and asked attendees to “go calmly”, adding: “Please keep your eyes open because unfortunately the perpetrator hasn’t been caught.”

He said many people had been wounded by “a knifeman”.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Saturday that the perpetrator of a stabbing rampage in the western town of Solingen must be caught quickly.

“The perpetrator must be quickly caught and punished to the fullest extent of the law,” he said in a post on X.

The country’s interior minister, Nancy Faeser, said security authorities were doing everything they could to catch the person and investigate the background to the attack.

Streets in Solingen were closed off as emergency teams responded to the mass stabbing on Friday night.

Investigators in forensic suits were seen scouring the city’s streets as tents were put up.

Police are continuing to hunt for perpetrator on Saturday morning. 

The tragedy unfolded at a festival in Solingen’s central square, the Fronhof, where thousands were gathered for a festival.

The Festival of Diversity, marking the city’s 650th anniversary, began on Friday and was to run until Sunday, with several stages in central streets offering live music, cabaret and acrobatics.

Solingen has about 160,000 residents and is near the bigger cities of Cologne and Dusseldorf.

“We are deeply shocked by the brutal attack on the city festival in Solingen,” German interior minister Nancy Faeser said in a statement on Saturday.

“Our security authorities are doing everything they can to catch the perpetrator and establish the background to the attack.”

Authorities cancelled the remainder of the weekend event.

German police are still searching for an unknown assailant hours after he killed three people and wounded others in a stabbing attack at a festival in the western city of Solingen.

Eight were injured, five of them seriously, the police said in a statement early on Saturday. That is up from the four serious injuries the police reported earlier.

“Both victims and witnesses are currently being questioned. The police are currently searching for the perpetrator with a large team,” police said.

The incident occurred around 9:40 pm on Friday, when the man attacked multiple people with a knife, the police said.