Two injured in further knife attack in Germany

BERLIN, Germany (AFP) — Two men were injured in a knife attack in the German city of Erfurt on Monday morning, police said, just three days after a deadly knife rampage in the Bavarian city of Wuerzburg.

The attacker fled and police were searching for him using a helicopter, police in the central German city said.

The two injured victims, aged 45 and 68, were taken to nearby hospitals for treatment and their injuries were not life-threatening, a police spokeswoman said.

The attacker was said to be between 20 and 30 years old, wearing a brown jumper and dark jogging pants, with blond to reddish curly hair and a scarred face.

A forensic team with sniffer dogs was at the scene, police said.

The attack came after a 24-year-old man on Friday went on a knife rampage in the city of Wuerzburg, stabbing three women to death and leaving six other people seriously injured.

The suspect, a Somali who arrived in Germany in 2015, struck in the city centre on Friday evening, first at a household goods store before moving on to a bank.

He was then overpowered by police after they shot him in the thigh.

Investigators found records showing that the man had been treated at a psychiatric institution, and police said he was not a known Islamist.

But a witness account of the suspect crying “Allah Akbar” (God is greatest) during his killing spree fuelled questions over his motive.

© Agence France-Presse