Attacker on German train known to Austrian authorities

A 20-year-old Syrian national suspected of having attacked four people on a German high-speed train with an axe was known to police in Austria for a violent offence, Austrian authorities said on Friday.

Proceedings were inititiated in May to strip the man of his asylum status after he was convicted twice over serious bodily harm and attempted resistance to state authority earlier this year, according to the federal migration authority in Vienna.

The suspect, who is based in Austria, applied for asylum in 2021 and was granted protection status in 2022.

The man is believed to have injured four people on Thursday on a busy express train travelling from Hamburg in northern Germany to Vienna, when it was passing through Bavaria.

According to initial findings, those injured include a Syrian woman, her son and another Syrian man.

At least one passenger overpowered the man, and police, who were called to the scene after passengers pulled the emergency brake, detained the attacker.

The man was seen praying before the attack, according to eyewitnesses. He is also believed to have uttered the words "Allahu Akbar," said lead prosecutor Thomas Rauscher - Arabic for "God is the greatest" and a common phrase in Islam.

However, it was still unclear whether Thursday's attack had an extremist motive, he stressed. The motive remains unclear, including whether the suspect knew the victims.

The attacker is believed to also have sustained severe injuries in the incident.