A boy and a girl, nine and ten, have been “seriously injured” in a knife attack on Wednesday in the German city of Duisburg. Police said they had detained a “youth” who allegedly attacked the children outside a Catholic elementary school.
The children were returning home from school in the Duisburg neighborhood of Marxloh when the attack happened, according to local media. They survived the attack and crawled back to the schoolhouse, where a teacher gave them first aid. A medical helicopter then evacuated them to an area hospital.
Duisburg police said a 21-year-old male suspect had been arrested and that there was no further danger to the public. Forensic investigators are working the crime scene and looking for possible witnesses.
Police did not identify the suspect or offer any information about his possible motive.
Duisburg is a city of about half a million residents in the Ruhr industrial region, in the West German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.