Boy, 15, arrested after two men and one woman killed at festival in Germany

A 15-year-old has been arrested in connection with stabbing attack in Germany, which saw three people killed and five others left “seriously injured”.

Officers have said that the motive is not yet clear but they cannot rule out a “terrorist motive”.

Police also confirmed two men and a woman were killed in the attack. The two male victims are reportedly 67 and 56 years old, and the deceased woman is 56.

The suspect stabbed passers-by who were attending a city festival in Solingen at around 9.45pm last night.

The teenager is suspected of failing “to report an imminent crime”, police and prosecutors said at a press conference this afternoon.

Prosecutor Markus Caspers said officials are still looking into motives and could not give any further information.

Officers asked people to refrain from speculating about the attack.

They previously issued a warning urging people to stay vigilant, as passers-by began placing candles and flowers outside the barricades.

Police described the atmosphere following the attack as “very hectic”, which made it difficult to try and locate the perpetrator.

Questioned about reports that the attacker targeted victims’ throats, police said the attacks were “very targeted” at people’s throats and necks.

Violence erupted at the festival marking the anniversary of Solingen last night, and officers received calls from witnesses alerting them to reports of several people being wounded in the city at around 9.30pm.

A major emergency was declared by local police, who launched a manhunt for the suspected knifeman.

“We are full of shock and grief,” Solingen Mayor Tim-Oliver Kurzbach told journalists on Saturday morning.

The festival in Solingen – some 25 kilometres from Dusseldorf – began on Friday and was supposed to continue over the weekend and approximately 80,000 people were expected to head there for the celebrations.

A German musician known as Topic said he was playing on a nearby stage when the incident occurred. He was asked “to avoid causing a mass panic attack”, he posted on Instagram.

The DJ was eventually told to stop, and “since the attacker was still on the run, we hid in a nearby store while police helicopters circled above us,” he wrote online.

Authorities have cancelled the remainder of the weekend festival.