Trial begins in Aachen: Trial after explosive device attack in the ICE begins

A man is said to have thrown explosives on a train near Siegburg in April, injuring ten passengers. Two men prevented something worse from happening. The perpetrator's motive? Unclear.

Numerous police officers went to Siegburg in April. (Archive image) Photo: Roberto Pfeil/dpa

Aachen. What's the worst that could have happened? The Aachen regional court will probably also ask itself this question when the trial begins on Tuesday against a 20-year-old who is said to have thrown explosive devices on an ICE train near Siegburg in April and planned a knife attack on passengers. The young man is accused of attempted murder.

There must have been dramatic scenes that the passengers had to experience on April 2nd near Siegburg near Bonn - and it was also a shock for the public. The defendant is said to have detonated two explosive devices, so-called airsoft grenades, in the ICE with around 180 passengers on board while wearing a balaclava.

Did it end comparatively lightly?

Ten people were slightly injured by flying plastic balls, at least one person was taken to hospital with blast trauma, and others had superficial skin injuries. Most of the approximately 180 passengers escaped with horror. But it could have been much worse.

The German citizen from Aachen is said to have left a backpack, a helmet and a knife in the train toilet in order to stab several people. Immediately before the crime, the man sent an extensive manifesto to several media companies, as the Düsseldorf Public Prosecutor's Office announced after the attack. In it he announced a knife attack and announced his intention to kill people. A particularly horrifying idea, also because there are hardly any escape options in an ICE train with narrow corridors.

Railway employees and passengers may save lives

The Attorney General's Office is convinced that the airsoft grenades were intended to serve as a diversion to prevent the planned knife attack from being discovered at an early stage.

However, the plan went terribly wrong: When the suspected perpetrator went into the train toilet after the grenades exploded, a railway employee and a passenger managed to lock the man there until the federal police arrived. The officers were finally able to arrest the 20-year-old at the train station in Siegburg and immediately cleared the entire train and part of the station.

The passengers were looked after by the Siegburg fire department in a nearby gym. Emergency chaplains were available to provide care. Meanwhile, the federal police searched the train and forensics were also at the crime scene before the all-clear could be given.

What was the motive?

The 20-year-old is in custody. Nothing is known about the motive yet. The investigators initially had indications of a politically motivated act and assigned the young man to the right-wing spectrum. However, the suspicion of a politically motivated act was not confirmed during the investigation, as the public prosecutor's office announced.

“We found different documents on different ideologies from him,” a spokeswoman for the public prosecutor’s office said after the attack. According to a psychiatric report, the young man from Aachen is fully responsible.

The accused had already appeared under criminal law before, said the public prosecutor. “Various offenses played a role here.” His apartment was searched. Investigators seized several items, including the suspect's cell phone.

What does the man face if he is convicted?

If convicted, the defendant faces up to 15 years in prison. According to a spokeswoman, the regional court also wants to examine the reservation of preventive detention.

A defense attorney for the defendant declined to comment before the trial. The regional court has scheduled eight days of hearings until mid-December.