A 41-year-old Syrian suspect has been arrested following chaos in Germany
Machete-wielding Syrian sets fire to homes and rams van into shops injuring 30
- A Syrian suspect has been arrested following chaos in Essen, Germany
A Syrian man has been arrested following chaos in Essen, with fires tearing through two blocks of flats leaving 30 people hurt - including eight children.
Neighbours tried to reach up with ladders to help people escape, but the ladders weren't long enough to access the upper floors, so brave residents worked together to lower children from the roof.
Horrifying photos shows a small child - seemingly a little girl - being held by one arm while reaching down to a man on a ladder in a desperate bid to escape the smoke and flames.
Another man stands on a window ledge to help support the child while terrified people remain trapped at the top of the building.
Two children who were hurt are in a life-threatening condition after inhaling smoke, according to local media.
They were reportedly thrown from windows to escape the flames, landing on cushions placed on the street.
Neighbours tried to reach up with ladders to help people escape, but the ladders weren't long enough to reach the upper floors, so residents worked together to lower children from the roof
The knifeman's van rammed through two shops a short time after the fires.
The 41-year-old Syrian man was arrested at the scene.
He had gone out armed with 'knives and fire accelerants' intending to target homes and shops in Essen.
The Bild daily reported that the suspect had threatened passers-by with a machete.
According to German media, the suspect first set fire to a residential building, then another house on a different street.
The boarded up windows of a food shop are seen, where the man had rammed a van into it, in Essen, western Germany
A destroyed entrance door of a commercial and apartment building is pictured in Essen
The damaged entrance door of a commercial and apartment building is pictured in Essen
A police cordon outside one of the blocks of flats which were set on fire
Pictures show shattered windows in the residential buildings in Essen
A police officer patrols in front of a food shop where the man had rammed a van into it in Essen
He then crashed into the window of a vegetable shop before driving to another store, where he exited the van and brandished a machete.
The suspect threatened people with weapons, but several men managed to push him back with shovels and poles until the police arrived.
Police said the suspect was a 41-year-old Essen resident with Syrian citizenship.
The rampage comes at a time of heated debate in Germany over migration after a spate of suspected Islamist attacks.
This photo shows a stairwell of a residential building after the fire
The boarded up windows of the food shop in Essen following the incident
A police officer patrols in front of the food shop where the man had rammed a van into it
The broken glass of a door is seen at the food shop after the incident
A police cordon is seen in front of an apartment building in Essen, which was set on fire
The damaged entrance door of a commercial and apartment building
A police cordon by the destroyed entrance door of an apartment building in Essen
Three people were killed and eight wounded in a knife attack at a street festival in the western city of Solingen in August, carried out by a Syrian asylum seeker and claimed by the Islamic State group.
There was also an Islamist motive in the killing of a police officer in a knife attack on the market square in the city of Mannheim in May.
Germany has responded to the attacks by taking steps to tighten immigration controls and knife laws.
The government has introduced new checks along all of its borders and promised to speed up deportations of migrants who have no right to stay in Germany.
Germany took in more than a million asylum seekers in 2015-2016 at the height of Europe's migrant crisis - a deeply divisive influx that has fueled the popularity of the conservative political party AfD.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13904747/Moment-children-roof-buildings-Essen-machete-fire.html
A Syrian suspect has been arrested following chaos in Germany, with fires tearing through two blocks of flats leaving 30 people hurt - including eight children.
Two of the children who were hurt are in a life-threatening condition after inhaling smoke, according to local media.
They were thrown from windows to escape the flames, landing on cushions placed on the street in the city of Essen.
Neighbours tried to reach up with ladders to help people escape, but the ladders weren't long enough to reach the upper floors so residents worked together to lower children from the roof.
The suspect's van rammed through two shops a short time after the fires.
The van caused damage but the 41-year-old Syrian man was arrested at the scene.
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