ZURICH: Three five-year-old boys wounded in a stabbing assault on a gaggle of kids in Zurich are now not in mortal hazard, prosecutors mentioned on Wednesday (Oct 2).
The assault occurred Tuesday on a largely residential road within the Oerlikon district within the north of Switzerland’s greatest metropolis.
A 23-year-old Chinese language man arrested on the scene confessed beneath questioning, Zurich prosecutors mentioned Wednesday.
It mentioned the person had been in Switzerland for research functions because the center of final 12 months, with out offering additional particulars.
“The presumption of innocence applies” till all authorized proceedings have been concluded, it mentioned.
“There have to date been no indications of accomplices or co-perpetrators,” it mentioned, including although that investigations had been persevering with “intensively”.
The prosecutor’s workplace mentioned it had filed a courtroom petition for the suspect to be remanded in custody.
One of many boys had been severely wounded within the assault, police mentioned Tuesday, whereas two others had been additionally damage.
“The injured are three boys aged 5. Their lives are actually out of hazard,” prosecutors mentioned Wednesday.
Police mentioned a daycare employee was accompanying a number of kids to the centre when a person immediately attacked the youngsters with a blade.
“The daycare employee reacted instantly and overpowered the attacker with the assistance of a person,” police mentioned.
“SCREAMING FOR HELP”
Mirco Bruhwiler, a 38-year-old who works close by, instructed the 20 Minuten newspaper that he held the suspect till officers arrived.
He mentioned he normally heard the youngsters singing as they handed by, however on Tuesday “they had been screaming for assist, so I went exterior”.
Bruhwiler mentioned the suspect was calm and sitting on the bottom.
“However I assumed I needed to maintain him so he would not run away, so I took him in a managed grip,” he mentioned.
A lady from the daycare centre immobilised the blade beneath her foot, the newspaper report added.
20 Minuten additionally had footage of a police unit coming into a residential constructing not removed from the scene of the assault, saying the suspect lived in a one-room condo.
Stabbings are a uncommon incidence in Switzerland, much more so when involving kids.
In China, stabbing assaults have multiplied in recent times, together with lethal assaults particularly focusing on colleges.
In July 2023, six individuals had been killed and one other injured in a stabbing assault at a kindergarten within the southern province of Guangdong.
And in August 2022, three individuals died and 6 others had been injured in a stabbing at a kindergarten within the southeastern province of Jiangxi.
