Man Injures 10 in Knife Attack on German Bus

A man armed with a knife attacked people on a bus in the northern German city of Luebeck on Friday, injuring at least 10 people before he was arrested.

Police tweeted that the perpetrator is a “34-year-old German citizen resident in Luebeck,” and that “there are currently no indications the man was politically radicalized and no signs of a terrorist background.”

Police added that a backpack was found in the bus from which smoke was appearing. It was examined by a bomb squad, which found a “fire accelerant” but no explosives.

The local Luebecker Nachrichten said the attacker was originally from Iran but now had German nationality and had lived in Luebeck for years.

“The background to the crime is still unclear and the subject of the ongoing investigation,” the police and state prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

Police said 10 people were injured, one seriously. The Luebecker Nachrichten said at least 14 people were injured, two seriously.

The attack took place on a full bus at 1:47 p.m. local time.

A witness told the Luebecker Nachrichten, “One of the victims had just given up his place to an older woman, when the attacker stabbed him in the chest.”

An area around a bus stop in the Luebeck neighbourhood of Kuecknitz was sealed off by police, spokesman Dierk Duerbook told Bild.