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World / Europe

Police shoot man with axe ahead of Hamburg Euros match

Published: 16 Jun 2024 - 06:46 pm | Last Updated: 16 Jun 2024 - 06:51 pm

AP

Hamburg: Police shot and injured a man who threatened them with an axe and a Molotov cocktail ahead of a Euro 2024 match in Hamburg on Sunday, German authorities said.

The incident triggered a "major operation" in the city's St Pauli district, police said on X, formerly Twitter.

A 39-year-old German man has been identified as a suspect, police sources told AFP. There was no indication of a link to the Euro 2024 clash between Poland and the Netherlands that took place later on Sunday, a police spokesman said.

The attacker "threatened the police with a pickaxe and a Molotov cocktail", the spokesman said, adding that the suspect was shot in the leg.

The police also said on X that the suspect was injured and receiving medical treatment.

The incident took place near the Reeperbahn station, more than a kilometre away from the city's official fan zone.

However, most of Hamburg was thronging with football fans ahead of the match, in which the Netherlands beat Poland 2-1.