Swiss attack not seen as terror act

THERE is no indication that a stabbing and arson attack on a Swiss train was an act of terror, police said yesterday, as one of the six people injured died.

“The question of motive remains,” police from Switzerland’s eastern Saint Gallen region said in a statement, stressing: “To date there is no indication this was a terrorist or politically motivated act.”

While no motives have been ruled out, the police statement should calm some of the speculation circulating since Saturday’s attack, which followed months of violent, often deadly assaults in Europe, many of which were claimed by the Islamic State group.

“Terrorism is not our main theory,” police spokesman Bruno Metzger said, adding that “other motives” figured far higher on the list, although he would not say what they were.

At about 2.20pm on Saturday, a 27-year-old Swiss national used flammable liquid to start a fire on a moving train in eastern Switzerland before stabbing passengers.

The incident took place on the line between Buchs and Sennwald near Salez station, not far from Switzerland’s eastern border with Liechtenstein and Austria.

Police said images of the attack had been caught on surveillance footage, allowing them to determine that the man had acted alone.

A 34-year-old woman died of her injuries yesterday, police said.

Two men, aged 17 and 50, two women aged 17 and 43, and a six-year-old girl also suffered burns and stab wounds, police said.