Police announced on Wednesday that a man injured seven people with a knife at a refugee centre in the Marzahn district of East Berlin.
The incident occurred on Tuesday evening and the victims include a 15-year-old boy, a security guard, and a visitor at the centre.
Emergency medics and doctors treated the injured on-site for wounds and stab injuries before transferring them to the hospital. None of the victims sustained life-threatening injuries.
The suspected attacker, a 21-year-old Algerian man, was also injured during the incident and has been detained by police.
Authorities noted that the injured security guard and visitor are from Germany, while the other five victims are from Moldova.
In response to a rising number of stabbing incidents, Germany’s Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has announced plans to implement stricter regulations on knife possession.
The upcoming changes aim to significantly limit the carrying of knives in public areas.
Under the new regulations, the maximum permissible blade length for knives carried in public will be reduced from 12 centimeters to 6 centimeters.
The government also intends to introduce a general ban on dangerous pocket knives. Municipal authorities will be encouraged to create more restricted zones where carrying weapons or knives is prohibited.
Recent police statistics reveal that there were 8,951 reported cases of bodily harm involving knives last year, either used to inflict injury or to threaten violence, marking a 6.5% increase from 2022.
The federal police have observed a continued rise in knife attacks during the first half of 2024, especially at train stations.
