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14, August 2016
Swiss police say no indication that attack on train carried out with terrorist motives 0
The Swiss police say there is no indication that an attack on a train east of Switzerland had been carried out with terrorist motives, as the attacker and a victim die of injuries. Police from Switzerland’s eastern Saint Gallen region said in a statement on Sunday that there was so far no indication that the knife attack near Salez station close to border with Liechtenstein and Austria was an act of terror.
“To date there is no indication this was a terrorist or politically motivated act,” said the statement, adding that the question of motive remains. Police spokesman Bruno Metzger said terrorism is not the main theory and that “other motives” were higher on the list for the security forces, but he would not elaborate. Police said the attacker, a 27-year-old Swiss national, died of the injuries he received during the attack. He reportedly used flammable liquid to start a fire on the train running between Buchs and Sennwald before starting to stab the passengers.
Six people aboard the train were critically injured, including a woman who was doused with flammable liquid. Police said the woman also succumbed to her injuries earlier on Sunday. She had been drenched with a large amount the flammable liquid, leading to speculations that the 34-year-old might have been the main target of the attack.
Metzger said the attacker was not of immigrant origin and had no criminal record. Local media said the man had a “typical Swiss name” and was on fire when he was apprehended. Five other people were injured in the attack, including one who had been on the platform and rushed in to pull out the attacker out of the train. Police said they were in relatively stable condition.
Switzerland has been immune to a spate of terror and hate attacks hitting Western European countries over the past months. The Takfiri group Daesh, which is based in Iraq and Syria, has carried out deadly assaults on civilians and security forces in France and Germany, two of Switzerland’s neighbors in west and north.
Presstv