A 14-year-old boy has been killed and four others injured in a knife attack by a Syrian refugee in the central Austrian city of Phila.
The Syrian attacked pedestrians with a knife on Saturday. He has been arrested, police said.
Police spokeswoman Reina Dionizio in the southern Austrian state of Caranthia said it was not clear if the attacker, a 23-year-old man, knew any of the victims.
Four of the injured were aged between 14 and 32, he said.
“I have been working in the press service for 20 years and I can’t recall anything like this ever happening,” Dionizio told state broadcaster ORF. ”
He said a man, described by Austrian media as the driver of a vehicle carrying Syrian food, intercepted the attacker with his car, saving more people from being injured.
The attack comes at a time of the political rise of the far-right Freedom Party in Austria. The anti-illegal immigration party won the most votes in September’s parliamentary elections. The group has pledged to send more refugees back to their countries such as Syria and Afghanistan.
But on Wednesday, the Freedom Party tried to form a coalition government but failed. The team reacted quickly to the Filler attack.
Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickle said in a statement, “We need to crack down the asylum, and situations like this like Phila cannot be allowed to be imported.”