Three people have been stabbed in Switzerland after a knife-wielding man unleashed a violent attack in a train station.
The incident at the Winterthur railway station on Thursday was confirmed by Zurich cantonal police, who said that the man, a 31-year-old Swiss national, was arrested at the scene after he wounded three people with a bladed weapon.
Footage from the scene showed the alleged knifeman running past a group of terrified young school children as their teacher tried to shield them.
One person was seriously injured, and two others sustained moderate injuries and were hospitalised, Blick reports. The injured are all Swiss citizens aged 28, 43, and 52.
The motive for the attack is currently unclear, and the police are investigating all possible leads.
Multiple witnesses claimed that the knifeman shouted ‘Allahu Akbar’, an Arabic phrase meaning God is great, as he unleashed his violent rampage, according to local media.
One passerby told news outlet Blick: ‘I heard a man behind me shout ‘Allahu Akbar’ five or six times in a very emotional and agitated manner.’
Emergency services – including ten to fifteen police cars – rushed to the scene, where a police cordon currently remains in place.
Images showed cops patrolling the area, while a privacy screen appeared to have been set up.
The knife attack in Switzerland comes a year after a stabbing at the busy central train station in the German city of Hamburg left multiple people injured.
The attacker targeted people on the platform between two train tracks last May.
Police said that ‘several’ people had life-threatening injuries, but didn’t give specific figures.
Late Friday evening, Hamburg’s fire service said that 17 people were hurt in total — four of them with life-threatening injuries, another six with serious injuries and seven with light injuries.
Police said a 39-year-old woman, a German national, was arrested at the scene.
