Man with axe attacks passengers on German train

Several people critically wounded, says a police spokesperson

BERLIN: A man with an axe attacked passengers on a train in the southern German state of Bavaria late on Monday and several people were critically wounded, a police spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said the attack happened on a local train near the city of Wuerzburg.

Hubschrauber kreisen über #Würzburg Heidingsfeld. Keiner gibt derzeit Infos raus. Situation undurchsichtig. pic.twitter.com/C34BH1iqDj

— Christian Hüther (@huethi89) July 18, 2016

He could not confirm media reports that the attacker had been shot dead and said the police operation was still ongoing.

The rail line between Würzburg-Heidingsfeld and Ochsenfurt has been closed, the police spokesperson added. There was no indication of the motive for the attack.

Attacker was 17-year-old Afghan - Bavarian minister

The attacker was a 17-year-old Afghan refugee who was living in the town of Ochsenfurt, Bavaria's interior minister said.

Joachim Herrmann told public broadcaster ARD that the young man, who was later shot dead by police, appeared to have made his way to Germany as an unaccompanied minor.

Herrmann declined to speculate about the motive for the attack.