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A woman injured several people with a knife on a bus on Friday evening. The incident occurred in Siegen, and three people are in critical condition.
Update from 31.08.2024, 6.29 a.m.: Police are continuing their investigation after a knife attack on a bus in Siegen, North Rhine-Westphalia. A woman suddenly stabbed people on a bus that was supposed to take more than 40 passengers to a city festival. At least six people suffered injuries, three of them life-threatening. A 32-year-old suspect was arrested by police shortly afterwards.
“This act has left us all absolutely astonished,” said Siegen Mayor Steffen Mues in a statement. Despite the incident, the city festival is to continue on Saturday (31 August). The organizers are basing their decision on the “police findings of the situation,” the city announced. According to the police, there is currently no further danger.
Investigations are ongoing following the knife attack in Siegen. © Sascha Ditscher/dpa
Emergency chaplains looked after passengers after the knife attack in Siegen
Two of the six injured were able to leave the hospital during the night, while another person discharged himself, a police spokesman told the German Press AgencyThe spokesman initially did not want to provide any information about the exact state of health of the injured. According to the police, the injured were between 16 and 30 years old and all came from the Siegen-Wittgenstein district.
During the night, 36 passengers were cared for in a hall. Emergency chaplains, firefighters and police were on site. The people who were on the bus at the time of the attack were questioned. Relatives were also in the hall. According to the police, there were over 40 adults and two or three children on the bus, who were later picked up by their mother.
The perpetrator of the knife attack in Siegen was already known to the police
Mayor Mues spoke to eyewitnesses on site after the incident and thanked the first responders, emergency services and emergency chaplains. Laura Kraft, member of the Bundestag for Siegen-Wittgenstein, expressed her wish on Platform X for a “speedy recovery and lots of strength for the relatives and those affected in these hours.” She stressed that this incident casts a “shadow over the celebrations” in Siegen.
The background to the crime and the exact sequence of events are still unclear. “We are securing evidence at the crime scene and questioning witnesses,” a police spokesman said on Saturday night. The 32-year-old suspect is known to the police. There are indications that the woman was mentally ill, but there are “no indications of a political or religious motive.” The investigation is ongoing.
Knife attack in Siegen: Woman stabs people in bus – three are in critical condition
First report from Friday, August 30th: Siegen – Only one week after the knife attack in Solingen, another incident occurred. In Siegen, a woman attacked people in a bus on Freiengrüner Straße at around 7.40 p.m. A total of five people were injured in the attack, three of them critically, according to the Presseportal reported. The R22 bus was apparently on its way to the Siegen city festival, and more than 40 people were said to have been on the bus at the time of the incident.
A 32-year-old woman was arrested as a suspect, the operation is still ongoing. The police are interviewing witnesses and examining the crime scene. The Dortmund police have begun investigations and are leading the operation. At the moment, however, there is no longer any danger. The Dortmund police, who are responsible for the investigations into the knife attack in Siegen, plan to announce details of the crime on Friday evening.
A 32-year-old woman injured five people with a knife on a bus in Siegen. © IMAGO/Rene Traut
“Horrible scenes” and lots of blood: Children and teenagers were also on the bus
Die Siegen Newspaper writes of indications that the suspect was under the influence of alcohol or even drugs. However, there are currently no indications of a terrorist background. Eyewitnesses tell the newspaper of “terrible scenes” and that a lot of blood was shed. Children and young people are also said to have been on the bus during the crime. Several media outlets report that emergency chaplains are said to be on site to look after the passengers.
So soon after the fatal knife attack in Solingen, the police had already taken additional security measures for the city festival in Siegen. On the political stage, many politicians are now calling for a general knife ban.
