Possibly four children in the hands of a man in Krefeld

Police surrounded the house

Krefeld (AP) – In Krefeld, a man with four children may have holed up in an apartment. The police were working with special forces and had surrounded the house, said a police spokesman on Saturday.

Whether the 53-year-old is really in the apartment or whether the children are alone cannot yet be said with certainty. The investigators assume that the man previously badly mistreated his 32-year-old wife for hours.

The woman was found seriously injured in the trunk of a car in Krefeld on Saturday afternoon. She was locked in the car and had to be freed before rescue workers could take her to the hospital, said the police spokesman. She testified that her husband had abused her since Friday. Eventually he put her in the car and drove to the place where she was found.

There was no trace of the man. However, the emergency services are sure that there are four children between the ages of three and nine in his home in Krefeld. First there was a “fleeting contact” with the children through the closed door, said the police spokesman. However, it is unclear whether the perpetrator is also in the apartment. The police did not provide any further information with reference to the ongoing operation. It was initially unclear whether the alleged perpetrator is the father of the four children.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 200919-99-630134 / 5

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