5 injured in ax attack at German train station; 1 arrested

A special police forces officer carries gear in the Duesseldorf, western Germany, main station Thursday, March 9, 2017 after several people had been injured in an axe attack. (Federico Gambarini/dpa via AP)

BERLIN — A man was arrested after injuring five people with an ax at the main train station in Duesseldorf, Germany in what appeared to be a random attack, police said Thursday (Friday, Manila time).

Officers were alerted about an attack shortly before 9 p.m. (2000 GMT), prompting a large-scale response.

“A person, probably armed with an ax, attacked people at random,” police said in a statement. “At least five people were injured, one of them very seriously.”

The suspected attacker was arrested after jumping off an overpass near the train station, the statement said. The man suffered serious injuries and was being treated in a hospital.

Police said an ax was recovered and officers were searching the area in and around the station, which was closed for the investigation. Police withdrew an earlier report that a second person had been arrested.

German authorities have heightened security measures following a series of attacks in public places over the past year.

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In one attack last July, a 17-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker traveling on a train near Wuerzburg injured five people with an ax and a knife before being shot dead by police. The attack was later claimed by the Islamic State group.

READ: German police kill Afghan teen after train axe attack

Duesseldorf police said there was no clear indication yet of the motive for Thursday’s attack.