Woman stabs 5 people on bus in Germany

Five people were injured, three of them seriously, in a stabbing on a bus in the western German city of Siegen, German police said Friday evening.

Police said they had arrested a 32-year-old female suspect.

At least 40 people were on the bus heading to a festival in the city of Siegen, about 75 kilometres (47 miles) east of Cologne, when the attack took place at around 7:40 p.m. (1740 GMT), according to a police statement.

Several passengers informed the police, who arrested the woman, a German citizen.

The motive for the crime was not clear, and police said there was no information to suggest the attack was a terrorist attack.

The German newspaper Bild reported that the woman who carried out the attack may have been suffering from mental health problems.

The incident comes exactly one week after a deadly stabbing in the western German city of Solingen, where a knife-wielding attacker killed three people and injured eight others.

The suspect, a 26-year-old Syrian national, was arrested.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the crime, but German authorities are still investigating the validity of this claim.

The police in Siegen appealed to citizens “not to spread false reports on social networks or other channels, and in particular not to refer to a terrorist attack.”

Police added that there was no information indicating such a motive.

Police moved to the scene on Friday evening. A security cordon was imposed around the crime scene, and evidence is being secured and witnesses are being questioned, according to the statement.

The bus was taking passengers to a festival celebrating the 800th anniversary of the founding of the city of Siegen.

(dpa)