George Pachantouris via Getty ImagesA canal in the Red Light District of Amsterdam, Netherlands. (illustrative photo)
NETHERLANDS – Two French tourists, aged 22 and 27, were injured in the hands by stab wounds in the famous red light district of Amsterdam on Sunday night, police said.
“The suspect fled. We couldn’t find him,” a police spokesman told AFP.
No information was given on the suspect’s motive, but the two victims intend to press charges, the spokesman said.
The knife attack happened around 3am local time on the Oudekerksplein (old church square in French in the heart of the red-light district), said police, who said they were called by a witness.
Two people were injured on their hands. One of the two was treated on site, the other was transferred to the hospital,” the spokesman said.
Lots of people on site at the time of the events
Known as the Wallen (Red Light District), the area in the heart of the city, just a stone’s throw from Central Station, is one of Amsterdam’s biggest tourist attractions.
If it had taken the full brunt of the health crisis, it was particularly crowded this Easter weekend, daily Het Parool reported, with many people there at the time of the events.
Due to a rise in local crime and crowds of young party tourists, the area was once dubbed the “square mile of squalor” by police.
To calm the riots and curb crime, local authorities even considered relocating the prostitutes to a suburban location to preserve this historic district, but most workers there called for less drastic measures.
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