Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Biodun Iginla, BBC News

Saturday, August 13, 2016

Switzerland Salez attack: Knifeman sets fire to Swiss train


  • Saturday August, 13, 2016  22H:13 GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME
  •  
  • From the sectionEurope
Policemen stand by a train at the station in Salez.Image copyrightAFP PHOTO/NEWSPICTURES.CH

by Isabelle Roussel and Biodun Iginla, BBC News, Liechtenstein
A knifeman has set fire to a train in north-eastern Switzerland, leaving six people in hospital with stab wounds and burns, police say.
The suspect, described as a Swiss man aged 27, was also taken to hospital after the incident near Salez in St Gallen canton, close to Liechtenstein.
He had ignited a flammable liquid before attacking people with a knife.
A child of six was injured. Police said they could not exclude the possibility of a terrorist motive.
Salez station, 13 AugustImage copyrightALAMY
"We can neither exclude nor affirm that this was a terrorist act," St Gallen regional police spokesman Bruno Metzger told the local St Galler Tagblatt daily.
Police spokesman Hanspeter Kruesi told AFP news agency the suspected attacker was not of immigrant background.
Three rescue helicopters are at the scene. A major police operation is under way.
The attack occurred around 14:20 (12:20 GMT) as the train was approaching Salez station, between the towns of Buchs and Sennwald.
Several dozen passengers were on board at the time of the attack.
Apart from the child, a girl and a boy, both 17, two women aged 34 and 43, and a man aged 50 were hurt.
BBC map
Some of the injured are said to be in a serious condition.
Police estimated damage to the train at CHF100,000 (£79,000; $103,000).
European states have been on the alert for "lone wolf" attacks after a series of recent incidents.
The so-called Islamic State later claimed the attack, releasing a video of the attacker who was shot dead by police as he fled.

Are you in the area? Have you been affected? You can share your experience by emailing haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also contact us in the following ways:
Or use the form below
Your contact details
If you are happy to be contacted by a BBC journalist please leave a telephone number that we can contact you on. In some cases a selection of your comments will be published, displaying your name as you provide it and location, unless you state otherwise. Your contact details will never be published. When sending us pictures, video or eyewitness accounts at no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws. Please ensure you have read the terms and conditions.

More on this story

No comments:

Post a Comment