Nine injured in attack on bus in Germany

BERLIN: Nine people were injured on Friday in an attack by a man wielding a knife on a bus in northern Germany, officials said on Friday, although his motive remained unclear.

The packed bus was heading in the direction of Travemuende, a popular beach destination close to the city of Luebeck, when a man pulled a weapon on passengers, local media Luebecker Nachrichten reported, quoting an unnamed witness.

The bus driver immediately stopped the vehicle, allowing passengers to escape, the daily said on its website. "The passengers jumped out of the bus and were screaming. It was terrible. Then the injured were brought out. The perpetrator had a kitchen knife," a witness who lives close to the scene, Lothar H., told the daily.

An unnamed female passenger on the bus said one of those injured had only just given up his seat to an elderly woman, "when the perpetrator stabbed him in the chest". A police car which happened to be close by arrived at the scene quickly, allowing officers to detain the assailant, added the report.

Confirming that a man went at fellow passengers on the bus with a knife, Luebeck chief prosecutor Ursula Hingst added: "We will not release information on the identity of the man nor the motive of the act."

Police from the state of Schleswig-Holstein meanwhile said on Twitter that "people were injured. No one was killed. The perpetrator was overpowered and is now in police custody." According to Luebecker Nachrichten, the attacker is an Iranian man in his mid-30s. While neither the motive nor full identity of the perpetrator have been established, Germany has been on high alert after several deadly Islamist extremist attacks.