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Man arrested after three injured in stabbing at Swiss train station
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Just nowVicky WongEPAPolice cordoned off parts of the Winterthur train station, northwest of Zurich, where the attack took place.A man has been arrested after three people were injured in a stabbing attack at a train station in Switzerland.Police said the three victims - Swiss nationals aged 28, 43 and 52 - were hospitalised after the attack at Winterthur train station.The suspect, a 31-year-old Swiss man, used a bladed weapon, they said, adding that the motive was under investigation.Switzerland's President Guy Parmelin said on social media he was "shocked by the terrorist attack this morning in Winterthur". "This deeply affects me," he added. Mario Fehr, Canton Zurich's security director, said it was "clear from the scene that the motive for this act must be sought in the realm of radicalisation and extremism".Marius Weyermann, commander of the Zurich cantonal police, said at a news conference with Fehr that the suspect lived in the area and had come to authorities' attention in 2015 for distributing Islamic State (IS) group propaganda.He said that on Monday, the suspect was sent to a psychiatric hospital after he had presented himself at a police station, where he made "incoherent statements". The next day he left the hospital. Officers took him back, and on Wednesday doctors certified that he no longer posed a danger to himself or others, he added.Weyermann said one of the victims, the 52 year old, was stabbed in the thigh and remains in hospital after receiving emergency surgery. The 28 year old and 43 year old received stab wounds to the leg and neck respectively, and have either left or are preparing to leave hospital, he added.EPALocal media quoted eyewitnesses saying the man held a knife, while people around him were screaming and running away.An eyewitness working in an office building nearby told a local newspaper he heard a man yell "Allahu Akbar" - meaning "God is greatest" in Arabic - at around 08:30 local time before attacking people with a knife. A group of schoolchildren were passing through the area at a time and a school teacher was seen standing in front of them to protect them, according to local media. Another eyewitness, a taxi driver, told Zurich-based daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung that a man had been walking around the station's underpass attacking people.
Seventy-four other students are being treated in hospital after being injured, he added.The fire at the Utumishi Girls school started in the early hours of Thursday morning when the students were asleep, according to the Kenya Red Cross and police.Police said search-and-rescue operations were under way with authorities yet to establish the cause of the fire. The Kenya Red Cross said emergency responders were on ground to offer support."It is a sad and saddening situation," police commander Masoud Mwinyi said, speaking to parents and crowds outside the school. Fires are not uncommon in Kenyan boarding schools, with several deadly incidents reported in recent years. Overcrowding un dormitories and the failure to follow safety guidelines have frequently been blamed for the high number of casualties.According to the police, the fire broke out around 01:00 local time (22:00 GMT Wednesday) and engulfed a dormitory block housing about 220 students.Mwinyi said investigations were ongoing. The school has been cordoned off, with only parents being allowed inside the compound.Wambui Nderitu, whose niece is a student at the school, said family members coming to the scene were met with confusion and fear."When we arrived at the school we were told to queue. Most of us were so worried because we had heard some students had died and others were injured and in hospital."She said some students were injured after jumping from the upper floor of the dormitory while trying to escape."Some of those at the top floor had to jump out, that's why they are injured."Nderitu said her niece survived the fire but suffered a broken leg. "I found my niece… she is fine… but she has a broken leg," she said.Getty Images/BBCBBC Africa podcasts
20 minutes agoPaul KirbyEurope digital editorBelga/AFPThe minibus was carrying seven children and two adults when it collided with the trainTwo schoolchildren and two adults have been killed in a collision between a train and a school minibus in Buggenhout in Belgium."My first thoughts are with the victims," said Belgian mobility minister Jean-Luc Crucke who confirmed reports that the barriers on a level crossing had been down when the crash happened. The bus had been carrying seven children, a driver and a chaperone at the time of the collision.Federal police spokeswoman An Berger said the crash took place shortly after 08:00 local time (06:00 GMT).She told VRT that no-one on the train was hurt although one person was being treated for shock."The bus was on its way to a special education school. It concerns mainly secondary school children," she added.Images from the scene showed the minibus lying on its side in Buggenhout, a small town near Aalst, to the north-west of the Belgian capital Brussels."What heartbreaking news," Flemish education minister Zuhal Demir posted on social media. "My thoughts are with all the victims, their families and everyone closely involved."
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