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KNIFE HORROR
Lubeck attack – knifeman with ‘smoking backpack’ in German city injures 10 in bus rampage
The man in his 30s was arrested after attacking several people with a kitchen knife, before leaving a 'smouldering backpack' at the scene
A KNIFEMAN injured 10 people, three seriously, in a terrifying stabbing rampage on a packed bus in the German city of Lubeck.
The suspect, who was allegedly wearing a "smouldering backpack", was arrested after attacking several people with a kitchen knife.
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He pulled a gun on the passengers on the bus to the coastal city of Travemunde but did not shoot anyone, a witness told Lubeck News.
A witness said: One of the victims offered his place to an elderly women when the man stabbed him in the chest. It was carnage."
Another named Lothar, 87, said: "The passengers jumped out of the bus screaming, it was terrible, and then the injured were taken away."
Police confirmed the suspect, a 34-year-old Iranian man who was not born in Germany, was put in police custody.
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Authorities had no immediate information on the assailant's motive for the afternoon attack but said they had no indication that he was politically radicalized or had any terrorist background.
Investigators found a flammable substance in a backpack aboard the bus, but no explosives.
The incident started when the assailant set fire to the backpack, prosecutor Ulla Hingst said at a Friday evening news conference in Luebeck.
The driver told investigators that he stopped the bus and opened all the doors to let passengers out after noticing the fire in his rear-view mirror.
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The driver is reported to have slammed on the brakes and opened the doors so people could escape before he was attacked himself.
As the suspect left the bus, he stabbed people around him with a 5-inch kitchen knife.
The attacker was overpowered by passengers outside the vehicle, then quickly arrested by police nearby.
Five of the victims were still hospitalised Friday evening.
Police, who confirmed nobody was killed in the attack, are now questioning the suspect and 30 witnesses on the bus.
The passengers are understood to have been on their way to Travemunder Woche, a week-long sailing festival on the coast.
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Prosecutor Ulla Hingst said: "There are no indications that the man was in any way politically radicalized.
"For that reason we have, as the investigation currently stands, no indications that there was a terrorist background to this act."
She added the motive is "still open" and "we are investigating in all directions."
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Organiser Jascha Bergmann said he was not sure whether the attack compromises the safety of those attending.
Interior Minister Grote was supposed to attend the opening ceremony today but is delaying his arrival because of the attack.
Lubeck, home to around 200,000 people, was granted World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 1987.
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