An eight-year-old boy has died after he was reportedly pushed onto the tracks in front of a moving train at one of the busiest stations in Germany. The police have taken a 40-year-old man into custody. 

Tragic incident at Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof

A major police operation is underway in Frankfurt after an eight-year-old boy and his 40-year-old mother were pushed in front of an incoming ICE train by an apparent stranger on Monday morning. In a statement, police said that the boy was struck by the train and died at the scene. His mother was able to save herself by rolling between the tracks and is currently being treated in hospital.

A 40-year-old man has been arrested on one count of homicide and two counts of attempted homicide. According to eyewitnesses, he had apparently attempted to push another person onto the tracks before fleeing the station. 

Suspect apparently did not know victims

He was pursued by onlookers, who managed to catch him and detain him until the police arrived. He is currently being questioned, as investigators try to determine a motive. According to a police statement, initial findings suggest that there was no relationship between the perpetrator and his victims. The man is believed to be of Eritrean origin and a resident of Switzerland. It is not clear what he was doing in Frankfurt. 

This latest incident comes just a week after a 34-year-old woman died in the small town of Voerde in North Rhine-Westphalia. She, too, was pushed in front of a moving train by an apparent stranger. A 28-year-old, German-born man of Kosovo Serb origin, identified only as Jackson B., is currently in custody on suspicion of homicide.