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Syrian asylum seeker arrested after boy, 14, killed and four injured in Austria stabbing

Two men suffer serious injuries, while a further two sustain less serious wounds in city of Villach

A 14-year-old boy has been killed and four other people injured in a knife attack in a southern Austrian city on Saturday, with police arresting a 23-year-old Syrian asylum seeker.

“A man randomly attacked passers-by with a knife,” Rainer Dionisio, a police spokesman, told the AFP news agency of the incident in Villach. “One victim, a 14-year-old boy, died.”

Two men suffered serious injuries, while another two men sustained less serious wounds. The oldest victim of the attack is a 32-year-old, police said.

The incident happened in the centre of the city, the capital of the Carinthia province, at just before 4pm. A food delivery rider saw the attack and rammed his vehicle into the attacker, who was arrested “right after the attack”, according to Mr Dionisio.

The arrested man is a Syrian asylum seeker with a valid residence permit and without a criminal record, according to preliminary information, said Mr Dionisio. Pictures of the arrest appeared to show him smiling as police drew their weapons.

The attack comes just two days after a car-ramming attack in the city of Munich, in neighbouring Germany. A two-year-old girl and her mother died on Saturday from injuries suffered in the attack, which left 37 others injured.