17 people injured in stabbing at Hamburg train station
A suspect in the attack was arrested, police said in a post on the social network X on Friday evening.
A stabbing attack at the central train station in the Germany city of Hamburg on Friday injured 17 people, with four of them in a life-threatening condition, authorities said.
A woman was arrested as the suspect.
The attacker targeted people on the platform between tracks 13 and 14 in the station, according to police.
The station in central Hamburg, Germany’s second-biggest city, is a major hub for local, regional and long-distance trains.
Late on Friday evening, Hamburg’s fire service said that 17 people were hurt in total – four of them with life-threatening injuries, another six with serious injuries and seven with light injuries, German news agency dpa reported.
Police said a 39-year-old woman, a German national, was arrested at the scene without putting up resistance and that they believe after watching video footage that she acted alone. They secured the knife.
There was no immediate information on a possible motive and investigators were looking into whether the suspect may have been mentally ill, police spokesperson Florian Abbenseth said.
Regional public broadcaster NDR reported that the attack took place shortly after 6pm in front of a waiting train.
A high-speed ICE train with its doors open could be seen at the platform after the attack.
Railway operator Deutsche Bahn said it was “deeply shocked” by the attack.
Four tracks at the station were closed on Friday evening, and some long-distance trains were delayed or diverted.
Carrying weapons, including knives, is banned at the station and on local transport in Hamburg.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s office said the German leader was appalled by the news and told Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschentscher in a call on Friday evening that “my thoughts are with the victims and their relatives”.
