Police: Man sets fire in train car, stabs passengers; 6 wounded

BERLIN- A Swiss man set a fire and stabbed people on a train in the country's northeast, wounding six people as well as himself, police said.

Police in St. Gallen canton (state) say the incident happened at 2:20 local time Saturday afternoon as the train neared the station in Salez, near the border with Liechtenstein.

They say the 27-year-old suspect had at least one knife and poured out a flammable liquid, which caught fire.

Police say the wounded included a 6-year-old child, three women aged 17, 34 and 43, and two men aged 17 and 50. Some of the injuries were said to be serious but there were no further details immediately on the seriousness of their injuries.

Police gave no definitive information on the attacker's possible motive, but a spokesman said "a terrorism background still seems very, very far-fetched," according to Reuters.

A preliminary estimate says that the train suffered 100,000 Swiss francs ($103,000) in damage.

In July, a refugee from Afghanistan attacked four tourists on a German train, then stabbed a woman as he fled from the train. All survived. Police shot and killed the attacker.

Later in the same month, a teenager armed with an axe and knife attacked passengers on another train in Germany, injuring a score of people. He too was shot and killed by police as he tried to escape from the train.

Last September, a heavily armed gunman opened fire on a high-speed Amsterdam-Paris train, but he was overpowered by two young American soldiers and their companion.