A knifeman killed a boy, 14, and wounded at least five others in Villach, a city in southern Austria.

The 23-year-old man began his rampage just before 4pm local time near the city’s main square, Hauptplatz.

Initial reports said four other people were also injured, but police have since confirmed five victims.

The suspect, a Syrian asylum seeker named by local reports as ‘Ahmad G’, has been arrested.

A police spokesperson told the Kronen newspaper that eyewitnesses said the man ‘laughed’ and ‘smiled’ during the spree.

Alaaeddin Alhalabi, a Syrian food delivery driver, witnessed the incident from his car by the Draubrücke bridge.

Alhalabi, who works for the German online food company foodora, said he was driving towards Lederergasse when he saw two wounded people on the bridge.

‘I didn’t think about it, I reacted immediately. I just drove off in the car and hit him,’ he told the Austrian news outlet 5 Minuten.

‘People were scared. They attacked me and smashed the window. I fled in my car.

‘I have lived here with my family for nine years and I love Villach. Villach has given me a lot.’

Police spokesman Rainer Dionisio praised Alhalabi for his ‘heroic act’.

‘To prevent anything worse from happening, he simply drove into the 23-year-old. He did the right thing,’ he said.

A witness who owns a restaurant near the main square added to Kleine Zeitung: ‘It was like a horror film.

‘Everything happened quickly, one person jumped out of a car and then several people fled. Our employee locked the restaurant and kept the guests inside’

Police said it wasn’t clear whether the suspect acted on his own. Officers are searching for potential further suspects.

Carinthia state governor Peter Kaiser said on X: ‘The unbelievable atrocity in Villach must have the harshest consequences! Anyone who lives in Carinthia, in Austria, must respect the law.

‘Anyone who violates this must face the harshest consequences – they must be put on trial, imprisoned and deported.

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