Local bishop expresses dismay over German train attack

Würzburg, Germany, Jul 19, 2016 / 10:57 am

In the wake of Monday night's terror attack by an Afghan Islamist on a train and pedestrians in Würzburg, the city's bishop has issued a statement of "great dismay" at the events, which left several people severely wounded.

"One is speechless in such a moment", Bishop Friedhelm Hofmann of Würzburg said July 19, assuring the injured and affected of his prayers and announcing the Church's support for those traumatized.

Bishop Hofmann also thanked police, ambulance and pastoral emergency workers at the scene.

On Monday evening a 17 year-old unaccompanied minor refugee from Afghanistan had attacked train passengers with an axe in the Bavarian city. He was shot and killed by police after wounding four people. Two of the wounded are in critical condition.

The attacker reportedly shouted the phrase "Allahu akbar" during the attack, and according to the BBC, the Islamic State has released a video allegedly showing the perpetrator threatening severe violence and an attack.

He had been in Germany for a year, and had recently moved in with a foster family after living at a refugee center.

The Bishop of Würzburg issued "a warning, not to put all asylum seekers under general suspicion" and said: "Perhaps we must accompany the unaccompanied minors even more and help them to overcome their own traumas".