German machete attack: Syrian refugee kills woman and injures two others in Reutlingen

Man has been arrested by police following assault outside fast food restaurant in Reutlingen

A woman has been killed and two others have been injured after they were attacked by a Syrian refugee with a machete near Stuttgart in Germany.

Police have arrested a man in connection with the attack in the small city of Reutlingen in the south-west of the country.

The man attacked the woman in a fast food restaurant at around 4:30pm local time, causing several witnesses to flee in panic.

The unnamed victim is believed to be a Polish woman who worked at the restaurant and may have been pregnant at the time of the attack, German tabloid Bild reports.

Mohammad Alhelo told German newspaper, Stuttgarter-Zeitung, that the man had run into the restaurant swinging the machete around his head.

He said: "He ran with the machete through the restaurant and swung it over their heads".

The 20-year-old, who worked at the fast food restaurant with the attacker and his victim, said he refilling the drinks machine when the attack started and ran away in a panic.

Mr Alhelo said the attacker was arguing with the woman before he killed her on the street - he said he had fallen in love with the woman when he started working there.

Forensics at the scene following the attack outside the restaurant in Reutlingen (Reuters)

He described the man as "a friendly guy" who had arrived alone in Germany from Syria around 18 months ago.

After killing the woman in the restaurant the man injured two more people before being arrested.

An eyewitness told Bild: "The attacker was completely out of his mind. He ran with the machete behind a police patrol car."

He said a passing BMW managed to run him over and afterwards he "lay prostrate on the ground and didn't move".

The police has confirmed the attacker was a 21-year-old Syrian refugee but have not released his name. The motive for the attack is unclear but police said there is no evidence it is terror related.

In a statement,they said the man was known to police but they suspected he was a "lone operator" and did not think people in and around the city are at risk.

It comes as Germany is on edge following two attacks in the past week.

A teenager went on a rampage in a Munich mall on Friday evening, killing nine, and an Afghan teenager attacked train passengers with an axe in Bavaria, wounding five, before being shot dead by police last week.