A train conductor was beaten to death by a fare dodger in Germany just days after a South Sudanese man threw a woman under a subway.
The fare dodger attacked the 36-year-old Deutsche Bahn employee on Tuesday evening as he was carrying out a ticket check on a train near Kaiserslautern.
According to local reports, the alleged perpetrator has been identified as a 26-year-old Greek man with no known place of residence in Germany.
Eyewitnesses said the fare dodger beat the conductor, named locally as Serkan C, after he was ordered to leave the train.
Several passengers who saw the attack take place then urgently attempted to administer first aid while calling the police.
Serkan was rushed to a local hospital, but he tragically died there on Wednesday morning.
Deutsche Bahn held a minute’s silence on Wednesday afternoon for the conductor, who is believed to have left behind a child and a wife.
Witnesses told Bild newspaper that Serkan had been checking on a group of four people between 20 and 30 years old, including the perpetrator, before the attack.
An argument erupted when the Greek man could not produce a ticket. He allegedly stood up and raised his fist.
Serkan then attempted to calm the situation down, but when he ordered the man to exit the train, the attacker then violently beat him.
Witnesses told the newspaper that the victim was punched several times in the head, and police are said to be continuing their investigation into the motive behind the attack.
Deutsche Bahn CEO Evelyn Palla issued a statement condemning ‘this terrible excess of violence’ and calling it ‘a dark day for all railway workers in the country.’
‘This tragic death is incomprehensible and saddening to me. My deepest condolences go out to the family of Serkan C., his friends, and colleagues,’ she said.
It comes just a week after an 18-year-old woman from Iran died at a Hamburg subway station after being dragged in front of an incoming train by a 25-year-old man from South Sudan.
Both people lost their lives in the incident.
According to local media, the man had already been arrested two days earlier after causing chaos in a brothel in the port city.
He was released after being charged with assault and resisting arrest.
