Berlin – Several people were injured on Thursday after a young Syrian refugee attacked passengers on board a high-speed train traveling from Hamburg to Vienna.
According to German police, the 20-year-old suspect was armed with a hammer and an axe. He wounded four people, three of whom are also Syrians, aged 15, 24, and 51. The nationality of the fourth victim has not yet been confirmed.
Police spokesperson Günther Tomaschko said the attacker “apparently carried both a hammer and an axe,” but it remains unclear whether he used them simultaneously or separately. Authorities are still investigating his motives and whether he knew the victims.
Bavaria’s Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann confirmed the attacker arrived in Austria as an asylum seeker and was traveling legally with a valid residence permit. Austrian officials are now investigating his background and any activities while living in the Vienna area.
Related: Germany Plans Talks with Syria to Deport Criminal Refugees
The attack comes at a time when Germany’s Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt announced plans to negotiate with the Syrian government to enable the deportation of Syrian refugees convicted of serious crimes. Currently, there is no agreement in place with Syria for forced returns, but Berlin says discussions are underway.
The proposed talks would also include Afghanistan, as Germany faces challenges deporting Afghan nationals convicted of crimes. Dobrindt stressed that relying on third-party countries to handle returns “cannot be a permanent solution.”
The minister added that Germany hosts over 600,000 asylum seekers, in addition to about 1.2 million Ukrainians who fled Russia’s invasion; a number he says strains the country’s capacity to integrate newcomers.
The debate around deportations intensified recently after Germany’s parliament voted to suspend family reunification rights for some categories of refugees, except in urgent humanitarian cases.
