Five people injured, police say

5 individuals have been injured following a stabbing close to the central Dam Sq. in Amsterdam, police say.

The injured embody two Individuals, a Polish man, a Belgian girl and a Dutch girl. The youngest is nineteen and the oldest 73, police add.

The male suspect, who has been arrested, was overpowered with the assistance of bystanders and brought to hospital with a leg damage.

Police say the motive behind the assault is “below investigation” however they’re contemplating the likelihood that the suspect could have chosen individuals at random.

The Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema stated a police investigation was “in full swing” and authorities hoped to uncover extra particulars of what occurred quickly.

“Our hearts exit to the victims, their households, and family members,” she stated.

The wounded individuals are a 67-year-old girl and a 69-year-old man, each from the US; a 26-year-old man from Poland; a 73-year-old girl from Belgium; and a 19-year-old girl from Amsterdam.

Police stated simply earlier than 15:30 native time (14:30 GMT) emergency companies acquired a number of experiences of a stabbing incident.

Officers then shortly arrived on the scene and located 5 injured individuals at numerous areas in and round Sint Nicolaasstraat within the centre of town, police stated.

With the assistance of bystanders, officers apprehended a suspect shortly after the incident, police stated.

Authorities cordoned-off a big space across the Royal Palace within the central Dam Sq., the place an emergency helicopter landed.

The sq. is standard with vacationers mendacity on the coronary heart of the historic district of town.

One witness instructed the Dutch paper De Telegraaf that they instantly heard an “icy scream” and after that panic broke out within the space.

A store assistant additionally stated that she heard quite a lot of shouting and screaming and that individuals began operating, the paper reported.

Amsterdam outlet Het Parool quoted a witness saying he approached a woman after listening to a noise. As another person shouted to name an ambulance, he noticed a knife “protruding from the lady’s again, between her shoulders”.

The police are urging anybody with pictures of the incident to add them as proof.

The variety of injured individuals was for a time stated to be 4, however in a later replace the police stated 5 individuals have been wounded in addition to the suspect.