Austria: Syrian man accused of random stabbing rampage kills teen, injures four others

A 23-year-old Syrian asylum seeker stabbed several passersby in the centre of the Austrian town of Villach, killing a 14-year-old boy and injuring four other people.

Further details, such as whether the accused attacker knew any of the victims, remained unclear, a spokesman for the police in the southern state of Carinthia, Rainer Dionisio, said on Saturday.

The injured were aged between 14 and 32 and Dionisio said two of the injured people were in a serious condition in hospital.

The bloodshed in Villach followed an attack this week in Munich by an Afghan national who drove his car into a crowd of people, injuring dozens, two of whom later died.

Such attacks are extremely rare in Austria. A jihadist killed four people in Vienna in a shooting rampage in 2020 that was the country’s deadliest assault in decades.

Villach is known for its carnival and is in an area that is a tourist hotspot in the summer as it includes one of Austria’s most famous lakes but otherwise attracts little attention.

“I have been in the (Carinthian police) press service for 20 years and cannot recall such an act,” Dionisio told national broadcaster ORF.

A man whom Austrian media described as a Syrian food delivery driver charged into the attacker with his car and prevented him from harming more people, Dionisio said.

Peter Kaiser, the governor of the Austrian province of Carinthia, expressed his condolences to the family of the 14-year-old victim.

“This outrageous atrocity must be met with harsh consequences. I have always said with clarity and unambiguously: Those who live in Carinthia, in Austria, have to respect the law and adjust to our rules and values,” he said on X.

Far-right leader Herbert Kickl said on the X social media platform that he is “appalled by the horrific act in Villach” and wished the family of the 14-year-old victim who was killed in the attack “much strength”.

“At the same time, I am angry ? angry at those politicians who have allowed stabbings, rapes, gang wars and other capital crimes to become the order of the day in Austria. This is a first-class failure of the system, for which a young man in Villach has now had to pay with his life,” Kickl said.

The attack comes at a time of political upheaval in Austria as the far-right Freedom Party, which came first in September’s parliamentary election, said on Wednesday it had failed to form a coalition government.

The president is now considering whether an alternative to a snap election is available.

Railing against illegal immigration and pledging to increase deportations to countries like Syria and Afghanistan, which it is currently illegal to deport people to, are central to the Freedom Party’s platform and appeal, and the party quickly seized on the Villach attack.

“We need a rigorous crackdown on asylum and cannot continue to import conditions like those in Villach,” Freedom Party leader Herbert Kickl said in a statement.

According to the Interior Ministry, 24,941 foreigners applied for asylum in Austria in 2024. The largest group of applicants was from Syria, followed by Afghanistan.

with AP.