WINTERTHUR: A man is said to shout “Allahu akbar!” wounded three people in a stabbing attack at a train station in Switzerland on Thursday before being arrested in what officials said was “an act of terrorism”.
Witnesses described scenes of panic and confusion when the man — who authorities said was a 31-year-old Swiss-Turkish national with a history of psychological problems — suddenly began stabbing people at the main train station in Winterthur, Switzerland’s sixth-largest city, during the morning rush hour.
“I am calling this exceptionally a terrorist attack,” Mario Fehr, in charge of security in the Swiss canton of Zurich, told a news conference.
Regional police commander Marius Weyermann agreed, telling reporters it was “clear from the scene that the motive for this act must be sought in the field of radicalization and extremism.”
He said police received the first emergency call at 8:28 a.m. (0628 GMT) and that the alleged perpetrator was arrested at 8:33 a.m.
The man, identified as Nesip Dedeler, had checked into a psychiatric clinic earlier this week before showing up at the Winterthur station carrying a knife, authorities said.
He wounded three men, aged 28, 43 and 52, while the oldest was seriously injured by stab wounds to the thigh and had to undergo emergency surgery, Weyermann said.
Swiss President Guy Parmelin said he was “shocked by the terrorist attack… It affects me deeply”.
I wish the three injured a speedy and complete recovery. And I thank the emergency services for their work.
‘goose kidney’
Images broadcast by several Swiss media outlets and on social media showed a man with long dark hair and a full beard running in front of the station shouting “Allahu akbar!” (God is the greatest), raising his right hand.
A 65-year-old taxi driver named Turhan Muslu told the Blick newspaper that he witnessed the attack.
“I saw him run off the ramp and try to stab a man,” he told the daily, adding that the man had “fought fiercely” before station guards arrived and subdued the attacker.
“Everything happened so quickly. If those security guards hadn’t (arrived) so quickly, I don’t know what would have happened.”
