Four Hongkongers were seriously injured in an axe attack on train passengers on a train in Germany. They were travelling as a family in a group of five when the attack occurred on Monday night local time. The attacker was holding a knife and an axe. The regional train it was nearing Würzburg, Barvaria.
The Immigration Department told HKFP that it immediately contacted the people involved after receiving a request for help. It also contacted China’s Office of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong, the Chinese Embassy in Berlin, the Chinese Consulate in Munich as well as the German Embassy in Beijing to understand and follow up on the case.
The department said that it will continue to keep in touch with the people involved and their families and that it is providing help to those involved in accordance with their family members’ wishes. The extent of the four’s injuries was not revealed.
The Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has condemned the attack and said in a statement that he was saddened by the incident. He offered his condolences to both those injured and their family members. He also said that the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Berlin has sent personnel to visit the victims. The Immigration Department will send staff to accompany the victims’ family members to go to Germany and to provide all feasible help along with the Chinese embassies and consulates.
Polizei will sich jeden Moment bei meinem Kollegen melden. Noch ist kein Amoklauf bestätigt. #würzburg pic.twitter.com/CLZtTgPpXB
— Christian Hüther (@huethi89) July 18, 2016
According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine, the attacker fled from the train as it stopped at the Heidingsfeld station and was later killed by shots fired by a specialised police unit.
The motive of the attack is unclear. At least four are critically injured. The attacker allegedly shouted “Allahu Akbar,” according to a German interior ministry spokesman.
