Axe attack on Hong Kong tourists: did death of friend in Afghanistan trigger young refugee’s rampage on train?

Teen who attacked Hongkongers in name of Islamic State had seemed to be adjusting well to life in Germany, playing soccer with the locals, working in bakery, and living with foster family in serene Bavarian town

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The 17-year-old Afghan refugee who attacked four Hong Kong tourists on a train in Wuerzburg, Germany, is seen in a video released by the Islamic State. At right is Kolping House in Ochsenfurt, a home for young refugees where the teen lived for a time. Photos: Reuters and AP

Published: 9:02am, 21 Jul 2016Updated: 10:26pm, 21 Jul 2016

By all accounts, the 17-year-old Afghan behind an axe rampage aboard a commuter train in Germany seemed to be quickly integrating and adapting to life in there — until something, possibly the death of a friend back home, prompted him to radicalise and turn on the country that took him in.

Five people were wounded in the attack late Monday near Wuerzburg, including four members of a Hong Kong family who were on the train and a woman walking her dog outside.

Yau Shu-ping, 62, and Edmund Au Yeung Chi-kin, 31, were in a “critical” conditions after suffering horrific injuries as they tried to protect Yau’s wife, Wong Pui-king, 58, and their 26-year-old daughter, Tracy Yau Hiu-tung, Au’s girlfriend.

This still image taken from an undated video posted on The Aamaq news agency, which is affiliated to the Islamic State group, shows a 17-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker who launched a bloody axe attack on a German train. Photo: AP

Hong Kong Immigration officer Kenneth Tong talks to reporters in front of a hospital in Wuerzburg, Germany. Photo: AP

German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said it wasn’t clear if Au and Yau would survive.

The attacker, whose name hasn’t been released by authorities, was killed by police. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack and posted a video in which the teen waved a knife and referred to himself as a “soldier of the Islamic State.”