Masked attacker stabs five people in Turkey and broadcasts rampage on social media

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A teenager has been arrested after a masked attacker stabbed five people at an open-air cafe in Turkey and broadcast the rampage on social media.

Wearing a helmet, mask and bulletproof vest adorned with neo-Nazi symbolism, the attacker – who was also armed with an axe – used a knife to stab people at a tea garden and a tram stop in the northwestern city of Eskisehir, reports suggest.

Two people were left in a critical condition, Turkish broadcaster Haberturk reported.

An 18-year-old identified as Arda K, was arrested following a police chase, Eskisehir governor’s office said.

Footage showed the attacker running around the area and stabbing people at random, before being apprehended.

The state-run Anadolu news agency reported that the attacker had been influenced by video games, without providing evidence for the assertion.

An online handle linked to the attacker in local media reports appears to have engaged with content relating to racist abuse and mass killings.

A photograph appearing to show the attacker’s weapons and protective gear, published by Istanbul-based outlet Oksijen, showed a mask bearing a neo-Nazi-linked skull, a knife adorned with swastikas and other Nazi symbols and a vest featuring a sun symbol co-opted by the Nazis.

The assailant broadcast the attack on social media through a camera attached to his vest, Haberturk reported.

Interior minister Ali Yerlikaya said that police detained the suspect after what he described as a random attack, as prosecutors launched an investigation into the incident.

Turkish newspaper Huriyet reported Turkey’s families minister as saying the government was “determined to combat digital addiction”.

The city governor’s office said the suspect had no previous criminal record and had turned 18 in June, Anadolu reported.

An eyewitness told the news agency that elderly people were wounded in the attack.