2nd LD Writethru: Man stabs several passengers on train in northern Switzerland

A young man attacked several passengers on a train near the northern Swiss city of St. Gallen on Saturday afternoon, injuring at least six people, local media and police source said.

The Swiss News Agency reported that the 27-year-old man was thought to have used a knife and set flammable liquid on fire, injuring at least one of the passengers severely.

The Swiss public radio SRF reported that at least six people were injured, including a 17-year-old and a 50-year-old man, three women aged 17, 34 and 43, and a six-year-old child. The attacker was apparently injured as well.

A local police statement said the attack took place at around 2:20 p.m.local time, and dozens of people were on the train at the time of the attack.

The attacker is a Swiss citizen, according to the police statement.

A local police spokesperson also told the press that the injured passengers, with both stab and burn wounds, had been taken to hospital. The motivation for the attack is still unclear.

Last month, a 17-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker attacked passengers with an axe on a train near Wuerzburg in Germany, wounding five people before being shot dead by police

Saturday's attack was the first of its kind in Switzerland, but local police source has declined to confirm any terrorism links to the attack, saying that the investigation is still underway. Endit