Berlin/Siegen (dpa) – Once again, several people have been injured in knife attacks in Germany. At least six people were injured in Siegen, North Rhine-Westphalia, alone, when a woman stabbed passengers on a bus with a knife. Three of them suffered life-threatening injuries. State Interior Minister Herbert Reul (CDU) called for more security measures at events. “I am currently having it checked whether it is legally possible to carry out bag checks at large festivals due to the current legal situation,” said Reul in Siegen.
He warned against comparing events. “What happened here in Siegen has nothing to do with what happened in Solingen.” It was just that both times knives were used. But there is a huge difference between a terrorist on the loose and a German woman with mental health problems randomly stabbing people,” said Reul. That is why the police will have to work very differently.
Act brings back memories of Solingen
The bus on a special route was supposed to take more than 40 passengers to a town festival on Friday. The knife attack took place at around 7.40 p.m. Several passengers alerted the police, and police arrested the German suspect. The background to the crime and the exact sequence of events were initially unclear. The 32-year-olds are known to the police. According to dpa information, there are indications that the woman has a mental illness. The town festival continued on Saturday with a church service and was not canceled.
A spokesman for the Westfalen-Süd transport company told the Siegener Zeitung that the bus drivers had reacted quickly, stopped the bus immediately after the first commotion in the vehicle and opened all the doors. This would have enabled the passengers to quickly escape from the bus and perhaps prevented something worse from happening. According to the newspaper report, there were also children and young people on the bus.
The crime brings back memories of the attack in Solingen exactly one week ago. There, a man killed three people with a knife and injured eight others at a town festival. The suspected perpetrator, a 26-year-old Syrian, is in custody. The Federal Prosecutor's Office is investigating him for murder and suspicion of membership in the terrorist militia Islamic State (IS), among other things.
The federal government is tightening gun laws
As a consequence of the terrorist attack in Solingen, the federal government agreed, among other things, to tighten gun laws. The use of knives in public spaces is to be further restricted. This includes a general ban on knives on long-distance buses and trains, at folk festivals and other large events. In addition, there is to be a ban on switchblades, but exceptions are to be possible – for example for hunters.
Recently, the number of knife attacks in Germany has increased significantly – and with it the public debate about this type of violence. In 2023, the police registered 8,951 cases of dangerous and serious bodily harm in which knives were used either to injure someone or to threaten to do so – an increase of almost 9.7 percent compared to the previous year.
Attacks in Gelsenkirchen and Wuppertal
There were also incidents involving knives in other cities in North Rhine-Westphalia. In Gelsenkirchen, a 29-year-old man was stabbed in the leg. The knife attack occurred after an argument between the man and an as yet unknown male person, police said. The suspected perpetrator fled early in the morning after the attack. The day before, a man was seriously injured by stabbings in an argument in Wuppertal. According to police, three men got into an argument in an apartment building.
There were also incidents in other parts of Germany: in Berlin, for example, two women were killed in a knife attack within a few days. In both cases, it was most likely by a man. On Friday evening, a 28-year-old woman was stabbed to death in the Friedrichsfelde district – just a few days after the alleged murder of a 36-year-old by her ex-husband in Berlin-Zehlendorf. There was another knife attack on a woman on Friday in the Reinickendorf district, but worse was prevented.
After the attack in Solingen, security at events was also discussed. In Siegen, the existing security concept and operational planning were again carefully reviewed, the mayor was quoted as saying on the city festival website. “Not canceling the city festival is also a sign of democracy and freedom.” The city of Siegen is celebrating its 800th birthday.
