By Dirk Böttger
Knife attacks in Berlin again: Two men were injured by stab wounds.
► The first incident took place at around 8:40 p.m. on Zwiestädter Straße in Neukölln: Two men were arguing. A 39-year-old stabbed his 34-year-old opponent in the neck with a cutter knife.
The victim then dragged himself to Böhmische Straße, where he collapsed in front of a restaurant with a severely bleeding neck injury. The man was treated on site and even had to be resuscitated. He was then taken straight to hospital for emergency surgery. Despite this, his life is still in danger.
Lots of blood on the floor: The victim collapsed in front of a restaurant with a heavily bleeding neck wound Photo: spreepicture
The perpetrator initially fled the scene, but turned himself in a short time later at police station 54.
The police have begun investigations on site, but it was not clear overnight whether a homicide squad would take over the case. According to initial findings, both men knew each other. The argument is said to have been about a woman.. However, the police had no information about the motive until the afternoon. A pastor cared for those affected on site.
According to a police spokeswoman, an investigation is currently underway into grievous bodily harm.
The police on site in Neukölln after the knife attack Photo: spreepicture
Six hours later the next attack
► At around 2 a.m., a fight broke out between several men in the Berlin district of Wedding at Leopoldplatz. According to the two victims, at least 20 people attacked them! One of the attackers pulled out a knife, stabbed and hit a 37-year-old man in the back on the shoulder blade. The wound was not deep, however, and could be treated on an outpatient basis.
There was also a knife attack in Wedding at Leopoldplatz Photo: spreepicture
A 41-year-old man suffered a head injury. He was not involved in the fight, but a bottle flew at his head. The laceration had to be treated in hospital.
The police assume that between 15 and 30 people from a group attacked a group of five men. The five men were able to escape into a mini-market. In this case, too, no reliable information was available about the background. The police are also investigating the dangerous bodily harm here.
More and more knife attacks
The Berlin Charité recently raised the alarm because it had to treat as many stab wounds in the first half of 2024 as it normally does in the whole year. This was stated by Professor Ulrich Stöckle from the Charité Surgery Department.
According to Berlin crime statistics, a knife was used as a weapon in 3,482 cases in 2023, 165 more cases than in the previous year and an increase of five percent. One in three people involved was under 21 years old.
The nationwide police crime statistics also show a continuous increase in knife attacks.
