A maniac wielding a 12-inch machete killed a woman in a frenzied attack and injured two other people in Ellesmere Port ’s twin town of Reutlingen, it was reported.
Paul Hooper from the Pioneer’s sister paper the Mirror , said media in the south west German city suggested the dead woman was pregnant and working as a cleaner in a nearby restaurant.
Police said on Sunday the incident was not a terror-related attack but that a motive had not yet been established.
They described the attacker, who was under arrest and being questioned, as a Syrian refugee, 21, with a history of ‘causing injuries to others’.
A witness told German newspaper Bild: “He was completely out of his mind. He ran with his machete even behind a patrol car.
“Someone driving a BMW then accelerated and ran him over. He lay on the ground and did not move.”
Chilling images posted on social networking sites showed a man with blood on his face pinned to the ground by police as a machete lay nearby.
It was understood said Mr Hooper the man was acting alone in what appeared to be a random attack.
In other reports the man was described as having been arguing with the Polish woman prior to the attack.
Ellesmere Port & Neston MP Justin Madders tweeted yesterday afternoon:
Germany is experiencing increased tension following the Munich shootings.
Ellesmere Port and Reutlingen are celebrating the 50th anniversary of twinning this year.
