Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
World
Al Jazeera and news agencies

Three youths wounded in stabbing in The Hague

Police officers near the site of the stabbing on a shopping street in The Hague [Piroschka van de Wouw/Reuters]

Police in the Netherlands have launched a manhunt for an attacker who stabbed three minors in The Hague.

The incident on Friday happened in the heart of The Hague shopping district, causing scenes of panic among shoppers.

More:

All three victims were minors, according to police, which did not give their ages. They were all later released from hospital and allowed to go home.

Police initially said they were looking for a man, about 45 to 50 years old, in a grey jogging suit. But in a later update, police spokeswoman Marije Kuiper said they did not yet have a description of the suspect, adding that the initial statement was wrong.

Kuiper also told reporters that it was not clear if the stabbing was a terror incident.

"We are at this moment searching for a suspect, no one has been arrested yet," Kuiper said.

Images on social media showed shoppers running in panic away from the scene, on a nighttime retail street lit by Christmas fairy lights.

"I saw two girls screaming and running away. A man fled. He jumped very athletically over benches to get away. He looked like a cheetah," one witness told broadcaster NOS.

"People were trying to get away. but that didn't work. I was shocked."

The Netherlands had already been shocked by a similar stabbing in Amsterdam a year ago when two US citizens were injured in a knife attack that prosecutors say had a "terrorist motive".

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.