Three dead in knife attack on German festival

SOLINGEN, Germany — German police on Saturday extended a major manhunt after a man stabbed to death three people and wounded eight others at a street festival in the city of Solingen.

Police closed off the center of Solingen, while victims and witnesses were being questioned about the attack on Friday night, according to a statement which said five of the injured were in "serious" condition.

Special forces were among security personnel in the city center while a helicopter flew overhead, according to an AFP journalist.

"An unidentified man attacked several people with a knife around 9.40 pm (1940 GMT)," said the statement released by police in the nearby city of Duesseldorf.

"Police are currently searching for the perpetrator with a large contingent," it added, encouraging witnesses to submit photos, videos and any other information about the attack.

According to the Bild daily, the perpetrator stabbed festival-goers "indiscriminately with a knife".

Witness Lars Breitzke told the Solinger Tageblatt newspaper he was a few metres from the attack, not far from the festival stage, and "understood from the expression on the singer's face that something was wrong".

"And then, a metre away from me, a person fell," said Breitzke, who at first thought it was someone who had too much to drink.

When he turned around, he saw other people lying on the ground amid pools of blood.

The festival was part of a series of events to celebrate the city's 650th birthday.

In a statement posted online, Tim-Oliver Kurzbach, mayor of Solingen, said the whole city was in "shock, horror and great grief".

"We all wanted to celebrate our town's anniversary together and now we have to mourn the dead and injured," he said.

Kurzbach thanked the emergency services for their work and expressed sympathy with those who had witnessed the attack.

"It tears my heart apart that there was an attack on our city. I have tears in my eyes when I think of those we have lost. I pray for all those who are still fighting for their lives," he said.

Hendrik Wuest, the premier of North Rhine-Westphalia state, also expressed his "shock and grief" in a post on social media platform X.

"An act of the most brutal and