Train killer nabbed
AN eight-year-old boy was run over by a train and killed at Frankfurt’s main station after a man pushed him and his mother on to the tracks.
The boy was killed as a high-speed ICE train was pulling into the station, one of Germany’s busiest.
Police said the mother was able to escape but the boy was hit and run over by the train and suffered fatal injuries, police spokeswoman Isabell Neumann said.
“The child was run over by the train ... and died on the tracks,” police spokesman Thomas Hollerbach said. “The 40-year-old mother managed to roll to the side and save herself.”
The suspect then apparently tried unsuccessfully to push another person on to the track, police said.
The 40-year-old suspect fled the scene with passers-by in pursuit and was arrested near the station. He was later identified as an Eritrean citizen. There was no immediate information on his possible motive.
Neumann said there appeared to be no connection between the suspect and the victims.
The boy’s mother was taken to a hospital and was also being questioned. There was no immediate information on her injuries.
Some tracks were closed for several hours, leading to delays and cancellations.
Interior Minister Horst Seehofer condemned “this appalling act in the strongest terms” and cautioned against drawing conclusions before more was known.
The incident follows a case earlier this month in which a 34-year-old woman was pushed in front of a train and killed in northern Germany. The suspect in that case, a Germanborn Serb, is in custody.