Two dead as man stabs passengers on train in Germany

Police and rescue services at a level crossing near Brokstedt station in Brockstedt, German (Jonas Walzberg/dpa via AP)

A man fatally stabbed two people and injured five others on a train in northern Germany before being arrested, police have said.

Germany’s Federal Police force said the man used a knife to attack several passengers shortly before a regional train travelling from Kiel to Hamburg arrived at Brokstedt station.

Police spokesman Juergen Henningsen said two of the stabbed people died after the attack.

The interior minister of Schleswig-Holstein state, Sabine Suetterlin-Waack, said the attack happened at about 3pm local time.

Police and forensic teams work at a level crossing near Brokstedt station in Germany (Jonas Walzberg/dpa via AP)

“It is terrible,” Ms Suetterlin-Waack told German public broadcaster NDR.

“We are shocked and horrified that something like this has happened.”

Regional police and the federal police were on the scene and the prosecutor’s office was investigating the attack, NDR reported.

The train station in Brokstedt was closed for several hours.

Police did not provide any information on the suspect’s identity and said his possible motives were under investigation.