LIVE: Shots and smoke at Cologne Central Station: Eyewitnesses report that a man set a girl on fire

 From Searchlight:

On Monday, the police moved out to sound a large alarm at Cologne Central Station. The information about the situation on site was initially contradictory, but in the meantime the authorities have confirmed that a hostage-taking was in progress. According to the news program “WDR Aktuell” on Twitter, at least one person is held hostage in the pharmacy at the back exit of the station.There have been reports of gunfire and smoke, both of which have not yet been confirmed. Even a girl allegedly set on fire by a stranger was mentioned in social networks. The police called on people via Twitter to refrain from spreading rumours and speculations. The police initially spoke of a “threat situation” in a pharmacy, which was reported to the officers at 12.45 pm.

Please visit Searchlight for the rest of this report.

H/T Searchlight, Johnny U.

 

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Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

12 Replies to “LIVE: Shots and smoke at Cologne Central Station: Eyewitnesses report that a man set a girl on fire”

  1. German police say they now have an armed assailant at Cologne’s main railway station “under control” and the woman he took hostage is receiving medical treatment.

    She had minor injuries from the incident but he is reported to have serious injuries.

    There was a full evacuation of the station, one of Germany’s biggest transport hubs.

    Local media say the incident does not appear to have been terror-related.

    Earlier there were unconfirmed reports of shots being fired.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-45862091

    Note: this is the BBC’s report

  2. Germany: Moment of panic as police flee Cologne station amid hostage-taking

    Police evacuated the central station of Cologne on Monday after an assailant took a woman hostage in the area and a hostage-taking emergency unfolded.

    Civilians and police officers were seen fleeing the area after it was cordoned off by local police.

    According to Cologne police, the hostage-taker was eventually arrested, while the woman held hostage has suffered minor injuries. The operation is ongoing, police say.

  3. Geiselnahme: Täter bekannte sich zum IS – Polizei schließt Terror nicht aus

    +++ 19.08 Uhr: Täter von Köln bekannte sich zum IS +++

    Laut Polizei bekannte sich der Täter zur Terrormiliz IS. Die habe er gegenüber Passanten gerufen. Die Polizei ermittle in alle Richtungen. Dies schließe auch einen möglichen Terrorhintergrund

    https://www.stern.de/panorama/weltgeschehen/news–taeter-bekannte-sich-zum-is—polizei-schliesst-terror-nicht-aus-8401820.html

  4. Deutsche Welle – German police free hostage at Cologne train station

    Police have rescued a hostage taken in a pharmacy at Cologne’s central station. The perpetrator is in intensive care after being shot during the operation. Officials said they could not rule out terrorism as a motive.

    A woman was held hostage by a man for two hours at a pharmacy in Cologne’s central railway station on Monday. At least two shots were fired when police stormed the pharmacy and ended the situation around two hours later.

    Authorities said the perpetrator sustained life-threatening injuries and emergency personnel had to revive him with CPR. The hostage received medical treatment for light injuries.

    Klaus Rüschenschmidt, who led the police operation, said the perpetrator “threw a Molotov cocktail in fast-food restaurant, injuring a 14-year-old.” An eye witness told DW’s David Martin at the scene that the young woman fled the restaurant with her legs on fire. She has been taken to hospital.

    The assailant then “fled to the pharmacy, where he took a hostage,” Rüschenschmidt said. When special forces intervened, the man “attempted to set light to the hostage.”

    Home-made bombs

    Police spokesman Klaus-Stephan Becker said investigators had found a document belonging to a 55-year-old Syrian asylum seeker in the pharmacy, which “likely belonged to the perpetrator now being treated in hospital.”

    The man demanded the release from custody of Tunisian woman, and was reported to have said he was a member “Daish,” an Arabic acronym for the “Islamic State” militant group. He had camping gas canisters with him that were stuck together with adhesive tape, as well as bottles of fire accelerant.

    https://www.dw.com/en/german-police-free-hostage-at-cologne-train-station/a-45893296

    • “When special forces intervened, the man “attempted to set light to the hostage”

      The devil is in the detail.

  5. The fire is a new twist in the terror attacks other then that a normal day in occupied Germany.

  6. Europe is already destroyed by this evil politicians, cancer is spreading very quickly, nightmare, Merkel You will burn too soon , for what have You done to this beautiful country, …speechless..