A 29-year-old police officer who was repeatedly stabbed during a frenzied attack at an anti-Islam rally in Germany has died.
Five others – including a well-known German Islam critic – were wounded when a knifeman launched the rampage in the city of Mannheim on Friday.
The policeman was ‘stabbed several times in the area of the head’ while trying to intervene, local police said in a statement.
He underwent emergency surgery following the attack and was put in an artifical coma but died of his injuries on Sunday.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he was ‘deeply saddened’ by the death of the police officer.
‘His commitment to the safety of all of us deserves the highest recognition,’ Scholz said on X, formerly Twitter.
The policeman was previously identified as Rouven L. by German media and was being kept alive by a heart-lung machine. He reportedly donated his organs and had his parents as well as his partner by his side when he died.
His colleagues were heard screaming ‘throw the knife away!’ However, with the knifeman not responding, the officers opened fire