Dutch police on Saturday were looking for a man suspected of wounded three miners in a knife attack the day before on a busy shopping street in The Hague, the Netherlands.
The suspect fled after the assault, which took place in a downtown department store, causing scenes of panic among many customers on this day of sales "Black Friday". The attack occurred in a department store in the "Grote Marktstraat", a busy thoroughfare in the city's largest shopping district.
"We are currently considering all scenarios," said a police spokeswoman, quoted by the Dutch press agency ANP. The police initially said they were looking for a 40- to 50-year-old man dressed in black cloaks, gray sweatpants, and a sling, before changing their minds, saying that "thorough investigations" were still under way. course.
The three injured people are minors, and all were able to leave the hospital to return to their homes, the police said, without specifying their age. Two teenage girls ran into the building after being stabbed, NOS television said, citing witnesses.
"Cheetah"
"I saw two girls screaming and running away, a man ran away, he jumped very athletically over the benches to run away, he looked like a cheetah," a witness told NOS .
Social media images showed panicky customers, running away from the scene.
"Knockdown with several wounded in the GroteMarktstraat in The Hague Emergency services on the spot", had initially announced the police of the city on Twitter.
Helicopters flew over the site of the attack in the evening and several rescue vehicles were on site. The Dutch authorities have not given any further information on the circumstances of the attack which occurred not far from the Parliament, seat of the Government and home to many international organizations.
The Netherlands has experienced several terrorist attacks or attempts in recent years. Last March, four people were killed by a man from Turkey who opened fire on a streetcar in Utrecht. He is being prosecuted for homicide for terrorist purposes.
Monday Dutch police announced the arrest of two men suspected of preparing a terrorist attack in the Netherlands at the end of the year with explosive belts and a car bomb. A Dutch court recently sentenced a Pakistani man to 10 years in prison for planning a "terrorist attack" against far-right anti-Islam MP Geert Wilders.
And in September 2018, the Dutch public prosecutor's office had declared that a "major terrorist attack" had been foiled in the Netherlands thanks to the arrest of seven men suspected of wanting to act at a "big event".
With AFP