Four people were severely wounded in a stabbing attack at a gym in the western German city of Duisburg, police said on Tuesday evening.
No arrests were announced, and police said that they were seeking one suspect.
The motive for the attack was not immediately clear.
Photo: AP
The incident occurred in the old city of Duisburg, and police asked residents to stay at home and avoid the area.
They said a large number of officers were at the scene of the attack, right across from city hall.
Three people were in a life-threatening condition, and one person was less severely injured, Duisburg police wrote on Twitter.
All four injured people are German citizens, police said, without giving any further details about their identities.
“According to current information, one person has injured other people with an object” at a gym, they wrote on Twitter earlier.
Police said that a “stabbing or cutting weapon” was used in the attack.
The attacker appeared to still be on the loose, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported.
“There has been no arrest,” police told Deutsche Presse-Agentur, adding that a hunt was under way for the attacker.
Investigators also said that it was too early to talk about a possible motive behind the attack.
Several victims were taken to hospital, while investigators searched the gym, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reported.
Several witnesses to the attack, some still with their sports bags, were taken to a nearby restaurant so that police could question them.
Helicopters were hovering above the gym and psychologists were brought in to help shocked witnesses.
Police said they received the first emergency calls at about 5:40pm.
Duisburg has about 500,000 residents and is located at the junction of the Rhine and Ruhr rivers. It used to be famous for its coal mining and steel production, but has in recent decades been plagued by high unemployment and poverty.
Bundestag President Baerbel Bas, who is from Duisburg, expressed shock over the attack.
“Terrible. My thoughts are with the injured,” Bas wrote on Twitter. “I hope that the emergency services will soon be able to clear up the threatening situation.”
Several hours after the attack, the operator of the gym said it deeply regretted the incident.
“We deeply regret the incident at our club in Duisburg and hope that the victims will recover quickly,” John Reed Fitness wrote in an e-mail to Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
The gym chain, which has branches in several cities in Germany and also other countries, said it was supporting the police investigation and that “the safety and health of our members and our employees are our top priority.”
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