A week after a deadly knife attack at a festival in the German city of Solingen shook the country, members of the public and political leaders are gathering there today to honor the memory of the victims, DPA reported, quoted by BTA.
Three visitors to the festival organized on the occasion of Solingen's 650th anniversary were stabbed and eight others were injured. A 26-year-old Syrian who lived in a nearby refugee residence was arrested for the attack. He is detained on suspicion of murder, alleged membership in the terrorist group "Islamic State" and on other charges.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Olaf Scholz are among those attending today's memorial service at the city's performing arts centre. The two statesmen will meet there with relatives, with survivors of the attack and with employees of the emergency services and residents of the city, before whom Steinmeier will deliver a speech.
A wreath-laying ceremony and a minute's silence are also planned at the site of the attack in Solingen.
The terrorist group "Islamic State" claimed responsibility for the crime, although German authorities are still investigating the veracity of the claim.
The suspected attacker is believed to have evaded a deportation order from Germany - something that has helped fuel a fierce debate in the country over asylum and migration policy.
After the attack, Chancellor Olaf Scholz's government proposed tighter gun rules, tough new limits on benefits for asylum seekers and greater police powers to deal with suspected Islamist threats.