A Red Cross therapist who helped treat asylum seekers was stabbed to death by a 27-year-old Syrian after the pair got into a heated argument.
The fatal stabbing occurred at a Red Cross facility in Saarbrücken that specialised in counselling and therapy for asylum seekers. The victim, a therapist employed by the Red Cross, was repeatedly stabbed by the Syrian and succumbed to his wounds at the scene, Die Welt reports.
Police say the attack occurred during a counselling session and say the asylum seeker got into a heated argument with the therapist. The Syrian then brought out a knife which he had on his person and used it to commit the deadly attack.
Police have not said what caused the conflict but noted the Syrian had also been injured in the incident and had to be taken to the hospital. Consequently, police have no been able to interrogate him. They have not released the identity of the attacker or the victim in the case so far.
German Red Cross President Rudolf Seiters briefly commented on the attack saying that he was “shocked”. The organisation said they are mourning the death of the therapist who they called a “meritorious” employee.
The Red Cross has been criticised in Germany in the past when last year they were accused of covering up sexual abuse in one their asylum centres in Potsdam.
The allegations were brought forward by a former employee who wrote a letter saying female staff were sexually harassed by male migrants and the manager of the asylum home chose to cover up the issue rather than address it.
A similar murder of an asylum centre worker by a migrant occurred in Sweden last year when Alexandra Mezher was stabbed to death by a Somali asylum seeker. Ms. Mezher got involved in a dispute between migrants and as a result was attacked by the Somalian who claimed to be underage at the time but was later revealed to be an adult.
Earlier this week, another asylum home murder occurred in Germany when an Afghan asylum seeker stabbed a five-year-old child to death. The 41-year-old Afghan was already known to police and had a prior conviction for attempted murder by arson and was forced to wear an ankle monitor.