Stabbing incident in Solingen, Germany results in at least three deaths

On the evening of August 23 local time, a serious stabbing attack occurred during the celebration of the 650th anniversary of the founding of Solingen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

At around 9:45 pm, at a live concert in the center of Solingen, a man carried out indiscriminate attacks on the people on the scene with a knife, resulting in three deaths and at least five people seriously injured. Later, the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia raised the number of seriously injured people to six. Witnesses said they saw an audience member fall to the ground not far away, and then several more people fell. “There are multiple pools of blood on the ground.”

After the incident, the police sounded the alarm and the celebration was canceled. Emergency departments dispatched multiple ambulances for rescue, and several helicopters hovered over the city. Solingen mayor Tim-Oliver Kurzbach issued a statement on social media saying that the entire city is plunged into “shock, fear and great sadness”. The governor of North Rhine-Westphalia, Hendrik Wüst, also expressed condolences on social media and condemned this attack as “the most cruel” act of violence. German Health Minister Karl Lauterbach condemned the assailant as “cowardly and pathetic” and urged the police to arrest him as soon as possible.

At present, the assailant has escaped and the police have not arrested anyone. The identity and motive of the assailant are still unknown. In view of the recent multiple stabbing attacks in Germany, German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer proposed earlier this month to tighten the control regulations on carrying knives in public places and strictly control aspects such as knife types and blade lengths.

This attack has had a huge impact on Solingen. The city was originally scheduled to hold a three-day celebration of the 650th anniversary of its founding from August 23 to 25, including song and dance performances, acrobatics and art exhibitions. It was expected that as many as 75,000 people would participate. Now the celebration has been canceled due to this incident. The international community also pays attention to this incident and hopes that the German police can find out the truth as soon as possible, bring the murderer to justice, give an explanation to the victims and their families, and take effective measures to ensure the safety of the public.