News   /   Germany

Two separate incidents leave multiple casualties in Germany

Firefighters gather after two police officers and several firefighters were injured in an explosion at an apartment building in the western German town of Ratingen, Germany, May 11, 2023. (Photo by Reuters)

An explosion and a shooting at two separate locations have left multiple casualties in Germany.

Both incidents, one in the western town of Ratingen near Dusseldorf and the other in town of Sindelfingen near Stuttgart, happened on Thursday.

In Ratingen, the explosion, which took place at a residential building, left two police officers and ten firefighters injured.

German Special Forces then entered the scene, storming the apartment, arresting a man inside while finding the body of a dead woman.

The alleged suspect in the incident is reportedly a 57-year-old man living with his elderly mother in the flat from which the explosion came.

Prosecutors suspect foul play, yet they still have to determine circumstances surrounding the incident, to see how the woman died and what caused the explosion.

In the Sindelfingen incident, two factory workers were killed in a shooting at a Mercedes-Benz plant. 

The suspect, a 53-year-old man, shot the victims, both 44, before being overpowered by the guards.

He “entered the factory hall and shot at two people. Security guards seized the suspect and handed him over to police, who encountered no resistance as they arrested him,” police said in a statement. “The factory hall was evacuated and workers are currently being cared for by police and the company’s support staff.”

Police said nobody else was harmed in the incident, adding that an investigation had been started to find a motive.

The workers in the affected part of the factory have been suspended until the end of the week, Mercedes-Benz said in a statement. However, the rest of the factory continues to work “on schedule,” the company added.

In Germany, strict laws require citizens to obtain a weapons possession card to own or buy a gun, as well as a weapons license to use or carry a loaded gun.

The Weapons Act, which was introduced in 2003 after a mass shooting at a school in Erfurt that left 16 people dead, tightened gun laws to some extent. However, due to an increase in violence and following several shooting incidents in recent years, there have been calls for more restrictions regarding guns.

REPLY 


Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk

SHARE THIS ARTICLE
Press TV News Roku