The couple’s 17-year-old son, Yau Chak-ming, was unhurt. Au Yeung is Tracy Yau’s boyfriend.
As details of their bravery on Monday night were
revealed, doubts emerged over the nationality of their attacker, who
initial reports said was an Afghan asylum seeker. Citing sources close
to the German security services, the ZDF television station reported he
was from Pakistan and had pretended to be an Afghan to bolster his
asylum claim.
Hong Kong and Wuerzburg were cities united in
shock in the wake of the attack, during which a German woman walking her
dog was also injured by the attacker as he tried to flee.
Dr Georg Ertl, managing medical director of the
University Hospital of Wuerzburg, where the two men are in intensive
care, said: “Unfortunately the patients are still in a severe condition.
“Of course we hope they will survive but their conditions are life threatening.
“Their conditions are unlikely to change in the next couple of days.”
Dr Ertl, who described the attack as “shocking
and “rare”, said the men could be in hospital for “weeks or even months”
due to the extent of their injuries. There was a real risk of
complications, he said.
One of them suffered a severe head injury, while
the other had serious injuries to his abdomen. Both showed no signs of
improvement on Wednesday.
The two Hong Kong women suffered less serious injuries and were said to be in stable condition.
Other medical staff at the hospital said the attack had shocked not just Wuerzburg, but the whole German nation.
“We would not expect such an attack in a small town,” one said, describing the area as “quiet”.
“Hurting Hong Kong people does not make any
sense to us. Apparently the guy wanted to hurt us, the Germans, or maybe
Westerners. I do not understand why he attacked your people. I feel
deeply sorry.”
A vice-consul from China’s diplomatic mission in
Munich, Cai Hao, urged caution over the motive for the attack: “There’s
no evidence that the attacker targeted the Chinese. The investigation
is going on. Please have a little bit of patience. The police need more
time.”
His call came as relatives of the injured Hongkongers arrived in Germany on Wednesday to be at their loved ones’ side. .
Tracy Yau’s sister, Sylvia, and her husband, as
well as the mother and sister of Au Yeung, met vice-consul general Xing
Weiping from the Chinese mission in Frankfurt on Wednesday morning. They
were accompanied by four officers from the Hong Kong Immigration
Department.
A source close to the families said the
relatives met the Wuerzburg police and urged them to carry out a speedy
probe into the tragedy.
German authorities have identified a young man shown in a video released by the Islamic State (IS) group as the attacker.
In the video, he called on others to “kill these infidels in the countries that you live in”.
At least one eyewitness said the attacker shouted “Allahu Akbar”
– God is greatest – during the assault. Investigators later seized a
“hand-painted IS flag” in his room in the nearby town of Ochsenfurt.
In Hong Kong, the chief imam of the city,
Muhammad Arshad, said the attacker had defamed Islam and that the
Islamic community in the city was praying for the injured. “Hong Kong
people are our brothers and sisters. I am in shock and in grief. I am
praying for them, and the whole community is praying for them,” he said,
describing the attacker as “inhuman”.
Louis Lui Hang-sum, vice- principal of Munsang
Colleage, where the uninjured Yau studied, had contacted the student.
“He is was with his family. He seemed to be calm,” he said.
The attack happened on a train that was travelling from Treuchtlingen to Wuerzburg in Bavaria.
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