A Belgian woman died following a knife attack in Bad Hönningen in the Rhineland-Palatinate German police report. A man stabbed several passers-by on Saturday afternoon. The 55-year-old Belgian woman killed hailed from Embourg in Liege Province. Two other victims were seriously injured. The perpetrator was arrested shortly after the events. Nothing is yet known about his motives.
It was around 4.30pm that a 38-year-old German attacked several people with a knife. The stabbing took place in the streets of Bad Hönningen, a town between Bonn and Koblenz, about 100 kilometres from the Belgian border. According to German police, the man stabbed three people. A 55-year-old Belgian woman did not survive the attack. Two other victims were seriously injured but are not in a life-threatening condition.
The Belgian foreign ministry has confirmed that the woman was a Belgian national but gave no further details. The victim's brother told the newspaper Sudinfo his sister, Claudia Maraite, a mother of three, was stabbed. Last weekend she was in Germany to celebrate a friend's birthday. She was attacked when she was out jogging.
German police were able to apprehend the perpetrator near where the stabbing occurred. Nothing is yet known about his motives. According to initial findings, the attacker may have psychological issues and chose his victims at random. Police are ruling out the possibility that the attack was politically motivated. A judicial enquiry has been opened. The foreign affairs ministry is following the case closely, together with the Belgian embassy in Berlin and local authorities.