The event was celebrating 650 years of the German city of Solingen
Three people have been killed and several others have been injured following an attack at an event celebrating 650 years of the German city of Solingen, local news reported on Friday.
According to newspaper Solinger Tageblatt, people said the attacker appeared to use a knife, and one of the festival organizers, Philipp Müller, said on the event stage that emergency workers were fighting for the lives of nine people.
No arrests have been made, the outlet reported, and eyewitness accounts said that the suspect fled.
During a press conference, a police spokesperson stated their “current assessment is that this was a deliberate attack,” but when asked if the tragedy was a terror attack, the spokesperson cautioned: “That would just be speculation. I can’t say that at the moment.”
“This evening we are all in shock, horror and great sadness in Solingen. We all wanted to celebrate our city’s anniversary together and now we have to mourn dead and injured people,” Solingen Mayor Tim Kurzbach wrote on social media. He said he had “tears in [his] eyes” over those lost.
In a statement shared to X, German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach wrote, “Hopefully the rescue workers will be able to save the injured who are still alive and the police will be able to catch the cowardly and pathetic perpetrator while he is on the run.”
Solinger Tageblatt’s deputy editor Björn Boch spoke to BBC on Friday and said the celebrations were “supposed to last for three days, and the city expected 25,000 people every night. The city was just packed with people.”
According to Solinger Tageblatt, the festival has been shut down and authorities are asking Solingen residents to exit the city center.
This is a developing story.