Prime News Ghana

Nine dead after two attacks in Germany

By Justice Kofi Bimpeh
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Nine people are dead following two shootings at shisha bars in the western German city of Hanau.

Several other people were also injured after a gunman opened fire at 22:00 local time (21:00 GMT) on Wednesday, police said.

The suspect was found dead at his home, along with the body of a second person, according to police.

There appeared to be no other perpetrators, they added and said the investigation was ongoing.

The motive for the attack is unclear.

Bild newspaper reported that the suspect was a German citizen with a firearms licence and that ammunition and gun magazines had been found in his car.

The first shooting was at a bar in the city centre, while the second was in Hanau's Kesselstadt neighbourhood.

They sparked a seven-hour manhunt, while officers searched for what they thought could have been multiple gunmen.

The suspect killed three people at the first shisha bar, Midnight, before driving to the Arena Bar & Cafe and shooting dead another five victims, regional broadcaster Hessenschau reported.

The initial death toll was eight, but this was raised to nine in the early hours of the following morning after one of the wounded victims succumbed to their injuries.

Can-Luca Frisenna, who works at a kiosk at the scene of one of the shootings, said his father and brother were in the area when the attack took place.

"It's like being in a film, it's like a bad joke, that someone is playing a joke on us," he told Reuters. "I can't grasp yet everything that has happened. My colleagues, all my colleagues, they are like my family - they can't understand it either."

Hanau, in the state of Hessen, is about 25km (15 miles) east of Frankfurt.

This attack comes four days after another shooting in Berlin, near a Turkish comedy show at the Tempodrom concert venue, which killed one person.

Source : BBC