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Manhunt in Vienna after knife attack leaves several people injured Manhunt in Vienna after 2 knife attacks leave several people critically injured
(about 1 hour later)
At least three people have been seriously injured in a knife attack in the Austrian capital Vienna. The assailant, who is now on the run, randomly attacked pedestrians, according to local media. His motives remain unknown. Four people have been seriously injured in two separate attacks in the Austrian capital Vienna. At least one of the assailants, whose motives remain unknown, is still on the run.
The attacker, whose identity remains unknown, seems to have randomly assaulted pedestrians in the street, the Austrian Heute news media outlet reports. One man and two women aged between 40 and 50 sustained heavy injuries in the attack and were hospitalized, the Austrian Kurier daily reports, citing a police spokesman. The first incident took place near the Austrian capital’s famous Prater Park around 19:45 local time (18:45 GMT) when a man suddenly attacked a family of three with a folding knife in front of a Japanese restaurant on Praterstrasse. The three victims were a couple and their teenage daughter.
The incident took place near the Austrian capital's famous Prater Park around 19:45 local time (18:45 GMT). A large police force, including a Special Forces unit, has been deployed to the area, the Austrian media report, adding that the scene was quickly cordoned off. “A man attacked a family – a father, a mother and their 17-year-old daughter – with a knife. The three people were seriously injured and their lives are in danger,” a police spokesman told Reuters.
A Vienna public transport company, the Wiener Linien, said in a statement that the city’s U3 metro line has been affected by the police operation. The assailant was shouting at his victims before stabbing them, witnesses to the attack recalled. “He seemed uninhibited and psychotic,” Silvia Franke told Austria’s Kurier newspaper. 
The alleged attacker managed to flee the scene and is still on the run, Austrian media report. According to Heute.at, heavily armed police officers are guarding the entrance doors of the buildings located not far from the scene. Local residents have been urged to stay at home. After stabbing the Austrian family, the perpetrator immediately fled the scene of the crime, shouting at and threatening people along his way.
Vienna police have confirmed the incident, stating that a knife attack indeed took place in the Praterstrasse area, and that some people were injured. It also stated that police officers are now looking for the assailant. Authorities deployed a number of ambulances and a Special Forces unit to track the suspect. Amid the ongoing operation and an active manhunt, another stabbing was reported nearby.
In a follow-up statement, police said that another person was stabbed with a knife at the Praterstern Square, which is located not far from the scene of the first attack. Vienna police are now investigating if the two incidents are related. “Half an hour later there was another attack .... at Praterstern,” the police spokesman said. “Here a person was also seriously injured and their life is in danger.”
While police continue to look into a possible connection between the two incidents, local media reports indicate that the second incident was caused by a dispute between two young Afghanis in front of a food stall, with no apparent link to the earlier attack in front of the Japanese restaurant. Police on Twitter confirmed the "arrest" of the second attacker, stating that a possible connection to an earlier attack is a “subject of the investigation.”
“We do not know to what extent there is a connection here and any motive remains unclear,” the city’s police spokesman noted.
The search for the culprit of the first attack is in full swing. The manhunt, however, is complicated by the fact that police know “absolutely nothing” about the attacker. “We know we are looking for a man,” police said. The motive for the attack is currently unknown.
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