Several Injured in Axe Attack at Dusseldorf Train Station

An axe-wielding attacker suffering from mental health problems injured seven people at the main train station in the German city of Dusseldorf late Thursday.

Previously, police had said several attackers were involved and two were arrested but they later said one suspect was behind the assault, a 36-year-old man from former Yugoslavia, France24 reported.

“An assailant probably armed with an axe attacked people at random” at about 8.50 p.m. local time, city police said in a statement.

“At least five people were injured, one seriously,” it added.

While trying to escape, the man jumped from a bridge and suffered serious injuries from the fall, the statement said. He was not in a position to be interrogated.

Large numbers of police, including special units, were deployed at the station and traffic was halted.

Peter Altmaier, a close adviser to Angela Merkel wrote on Twitter: “What happened at the central station in Dusseldorf, our compassion and our thoughts go out to the injured.”

German authorities have been on alert for terror attacks, especially since an assault claimed by the self-styled Islamic State terrorist group in December when a hijacked truck ploughed into a Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 people.

There was another axe attack on a train in 2016 in Germany’s Bavaria, but no one was killed and the attacker was found to be mentally unbalanced.