Three in mortal danger

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Six people were injured in a knife attack on a bus in Siegen, North Rhine-Westphalia. Three of them are in mortal danger, one person was seriously injured. The police have arrested a 32-year-old suspect. They are not currently assuming an act of terrorism. The city festival in Siegen is to continue.

According to the police, there were just under 50 passengers on the bus. The bus was on a special route to take passengers to the city festival. The attack occurred at around 7.40 pm.

Several passengers immediately alerted the police, who arrested the German suspect. "This crime has left us all absolutely stunned," said Siegen's mayor Steffen Mues.

The background to the crime and the exact sequence of events are still unclear. "We are currently securing evidence at the scene and interviewing witnesses", explained a Dortmund police spokesperson. The 32-year-old woman is already known to the police. According to dpa, there are indications that the woman may have a mental illness.

A spokesman for the Westfalen-Süd transport company told the Siegener Zeitung that the bus driver had reacted with presence of mind, brought the bus to a halt immediately after the initial commotion in the vehicle and opened all the doors. This would have enabled the passengers to escape from the bus quickly and perhaps prevented even worse. According to the newspaper report, there were also children and teenagers on the bus.

The crime brings back memories of the attack in Solingen exactly one week earlier, where a man also stabbed people with a knife - and fatally injured several.