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3 dead in stabbing attacks in Finland, Germany

By Allen Cone
Ambulances gather at the site of a stabbing attack at markets in Turku, Finland, on Friday. At least two died. Photo by Matti Ruuska/Turun Sanomat/EPA
Ambulances gather at the site of a stabbing attack at markets in Turku, Finland, on Friday. At least two died. Photo by Matti Ruuska/Turun Sanomat/EPA

Aug. 18 (UPI) -- At least three people died Friday and several others were hurt in separate stabbing attacks in Finland and Germany, authorities said.

In Finland, police confirmed two deaths and six people injured at two marketplaces near each other in the city center -- the Central Market and Puutori-Market Squares -- on Friday afternoon.

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Police shot the suspected assailant in the leg and arrested him, state broadcaster YLE reported.

South-West Finland police said via Twitter: "Several people stabbed in central Turku. People are requested to avoid the city centre."

Eyewitnesses reported one or more gunshots, and saw one person was lying on the ground.

"It was really horrible. We were sitting on a terrace just next to the square and this woman just screamed like hell and this guy was standing in front of her with a huge knife just stabbing people," Kent Svensson, 44, from Sweden, told CNN. "There was blood everywhere."

Authorities said they're seeking additional suspects.

Turku is around 85 miles west of the capital, Helsinki.

Two hours later in Dusseldorf, Germany, a 31-year-old man was killed and a 25-year-old man was seriously wounded in a stabbing attack at a store, police said.

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Police are searching for one or more suspects.

Authorities did not immediately identify a motive in either attack.

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