BREAKING NEWS: Man injures seven Swiss train passengers including a six-year-old child when he sets carriage on fire and goes on a knife rampage

  • Swiss police confirm seven people have been injured after attack on train
  • A man reportedly assaulted passengers with 'fire and a knife' 
  • Officers confirmed the 27-year-old offender stabbed a child, six 
  • Swiss Interior Minister 'holding emergency meeting' over incident

By Joseph Curtis For Mailonline

Published: 11:24 EST, 13 August 2016 | Updated: 12:05 EST, 13 August 2016

Seven people have been injured after a man attacked passengers on a train in Switzerland with 'fire and a knife'.

Swiss police have confirmed the train has been sealed off an it is understood the county's interior minister is holding an emergency meeting over the incident.

The man set the train carriage on fire using a flammable liquid and also stabbed passengers, including a six-year-old child, police said.

The attack happened near Salez-Sennwald Train Station on the line between Buchs and Sennwald at around 2.20pm.

Seven people have been injured after a man attacked passengers on a train in Switzerland with 'fire and a knife' (file picture)

Seven people have been injured after a man attacked passengers on a train in Switzerland with 'fire and a knife' (file picture)

The offender, a 27-year-old Swiss citizen, carried out the attack on a train travelling in Switzerland's far east, along its border with Liechtenstein, and was also injured, regional police in St Gallen said in a statement.

The statement said: 'According to current information a 27-year-old Swiss man poured out a flammable liquid. He was also armed with at least one knife. The liquid caught fire.'

Reports in  Switzerland suggest a 17-year-old girl and two women aged 34 and 43 were injured while a 17-year-old boy and 50-year-old man were also hurt.

The carriage was reportedly left covered in blood as the wounded were treated at the scene before being taken to hospital. 

It is the latest in a series of similar attacks in Europe over the past month, including a 17-year-old injuring five people with an axe and knife on a train in Wurzburg, Germany, in July. 

The attack took place at around 2.30pm this afternoon near Salez-Sennwald Station (pictured)

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack and later released footage of the 17-year-old axeman, named as Muhammad Riyad, being gunned down by armed police after fleeing the scene.

A massive contingent of rescue workers rushed to the scene, including police, firefighters, ambulances and three rescue helicopters.

The Salez station remains closed, and police said replacement buses had been set up.

Saint Gallen prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into the attack.

Police said the train had suffered damages upwards of 100,000 Swiss francs (£80,000).

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