Knife attack at train station in Hamburg, Germany, wounds at least 17

At least 17 people were injured in a knife attack at the central train station in the German city of Hamburg on Friday evening, according to the local fire department.

Four of the victims are in critical condition, a spokesperson from the fire department said, adding that all the victims had been hospitalized.

Hamburg police said they believed that a 39-year-old woman had acted alone in carrying out the attack, but the investigation was ongoing.

Police were still investigating a possible motive but said they believed that the woman might have been in a state of mental distress, according to Florian Abbenseth, a Hamburg police spokesperson, who said the woman had given herself up without resistance when police arrived on the scene.

“The perpetrator is in custody,” Peter Tschentscher, Hamburg’s mayor, said Friday night. “I wish the victims of the crime much strength and hope that those who are seriously injured will also be able to be saved.”

Friedrich Merz, Germany’s new chancellor, spoke with the mayor to give his condolences and to offer help from federal authorities.

The attack occurred on a crowded platform of the station, according to local news reports, and in front of a waiting long-distance train. Witnesses described a scene of chaos around 6 p.m. local time, as the attacker started to randomly stab travelers.

Hamburg’s central train station is Germany’s busiest, and one of its most dangerous, according to police. Because of the number of violent altercations there, the city declared the station and its surroundings a weapons-free zone, essentially giving police more power to search and arrest potential troublemakers.

This is the second major knife attack in Germany this week.

On Monday, police arrested a man suspected of carrying out a knife attack Sunday outside a bar in Bielefeld, in western Germany, wounding five people.

Authorities say the 35-year-old man arrived from Syria in 2023 and had been granted the temporary right to stay in Germany.

In that case, the man told police through a translation app that he supported the Islamic State terrorist organization, Der Spiegel reported.

The police say they seized two long kitchen knives, as well as a knife attached to a stick, in a backpack at the crime scene, which they believe belonged to the suspect. They also seized a plastic bottle of gasoline.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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