Man kills three in Austria

At least three people have been killed, with a child reportedly among the dead, and 50 injured after a man drove deliberately straight through a crowd of shoppers in Graz, Austria, before getting out and stabbing bystanders with a knife.

The man is believed to have crashed his SUV at speed into the crowd of people on purpose, sending several shoppers flying into the windshield, before getting out and stabbing bystanders with a knife.

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Police investigators stand at the scene where an SUV drove into pedestrians in the city center of Graz, Austria

A 26-year-old Austrian man with Bosnian roots has been arrested by police.

The incident took place at 12.30pm on Saturday in the centre of Graz, Austria’s second biggest city, and officers have sealed off the area.

The driver accelerated into the crowd at a speed of up to 100kph through the Herrengasse Street and over the main square into the crowd.

Witnesses said the man plowed his vehicle into the crowd at random, sending several people crashing into the windshield and flying over the van.

The man got out of the car and attacked police and passers-by before being overwhelmed.

A man, a female cyclist and a seven-year-old boy are believed to be among the dead, reported German-language website Krone.

A SUV which drove into pedestrians stands at the scene of crime (EPA)

A surgeon who arrived on the scene shortly after the attack told the Kleine Zeitung: “We tried to revive the cyclist but help came too late for her.”

Graz Mayor Siegfried Nagl, who was travelling on his Vespa at the time of the incident and saw the attack in his rear mirror, said: “The driver deliberately drove into passers-by. I saw myself how the woman fell down.”

“The bodies are lying covered on the street,” another eyewitness told the paper.

About 60 ambulances converged on the scene and the Austrian auto club sent four helicopters to bring the victims to hospitals.

Police investigators stand at the scene where an SUV drove into pedestrians in the city center of Graz, Austria

They have ruled out the possibility of the attack being terrorism-related and said that the man is allegedly suffering from mental health problems.

Hermann Schützenhöfer, the Styrian governor, denounced the attack as a “heinous act” for which such there is “neither an explanation nor an excuse,” and said his thoughts were with the victims’ families and the injured.


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