A 17-year-old boy was killed in a violent brawl near an asylum seeker accommodation center in the northern German city of Hamburg. Two other men, aged 19 and 34, were injured in the altercation, with the 34-year-old suffering life-threatening stab wounds.
A 17-year-old boy has lost his life in a violent altercation involving several men near an accommodation center for asylum seekers in Hamburg's Harburg district.
The incident, which left two others injured, took place in the late evening of December 27, authorities reported on Saturday.
According to police, the brawl was initially reported by passing motorists who witnessed the confrontation. Officers who responded to the scene found the teenager lying unconscious on the ground, a police spokesperson told the German news agency DPA.
Despite immediate attempts by police and paramedics to resuscitate the teen, he was pronounced dead in the hospital from suffering stab wounds.
Two other men were also found injured near the scene: A 19-year-old, who also was suffering from stab wounds to his arms and a 34-year-old, who was found nearby with life-threatening stab wounds to his upper body. He was rushed to hospital and had to undergo emergency surgery.
Police believe that the 19-year-old may have tried to intervene in the altercation to help the victim.
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Ongoing investigation
The exact sequence of events that took place that night remains unclear.
Police have not yet confirmed who likely inflicted the fatal injuries or any further details about the timeline of the stabbing.
However, preliminary evidence suggests that the 17-year-old and the 34-year-old may have wounded each other during the confrontation.
Neither of the two surviving injured individuals has been questioned by authorities so far.
Evidence collected at the scene included several knives; police meanwhile have also searched one of the apartments inside the accommodation center.
It has been reported that at least one of the men involved in the violent altercation may have been a resident at the accommodation center, and it is possible that all three men were connected to the facility. However, this has not been confirmed.
As the incident involves the death of an underage person, details may be slow to emerge, as authorities in Germany focus on protecting the privacy of victims in such cases. Among other things, the nationalities of any of the three individuals involved in the altercation remain unknown.
Police meanwhile are continuing to investigate the incident and have not yet made any arrests.
The case has sparked concern about safety in the area, and local residents say they are awaiting further details as the investigation unfolds.
With DPA