Police appeal for help over mystery murder of Spaniard on Berlin street

Police in Germany are struggling to solve the mysterious murder of a 26-year-old Spanish man who was stabbed in the middle of a Berlin street on Saturday night.

Alejandro G., who was studying German in the capital, is not thought to have known his killer or to have had any kind of relationship with him, according to initial inquiries.

The only lead investigators have to go on is a vague description of the attacker provided by witnesses. The police were due to return to the Kreuzberg neighborhood, where the incident took place, to distribute posters showing the victim in the hope that further witnesses will come forward. “Who witnessed the incident or could give us information about the culprit?” ask the posters, which are written in German, Arabic and Turkish.

“It was all very quick,” said a police spokesman. “The witnesses were very surprised and were unable to give a detailed description.”

Those questioned were only able to describe the attacker as a man aged between 25 and 30, between 1.75 and 1.80 meters tall, of thin build, and with stubble. He wore a gray cap and long coat. According to the police, he also had a “southern appearance,” meaning a dark complexion.

It was all very quick. The witnesses were very surprised and were unable to give a detailed description” German police spokesman

Alejandro G., who was accompanied by two other Spaniards when he was attacked, had been living in Berlin for the past year. The three had just left a bar in Kreuzberg, one of the German capital’s main nightlife districts, when he was stabbed in Oranienplatz.

Of Ecuadorian origin but with Spanish nationality, Alejandro’s family lives in Zaragoza. His sister is now in Berlin to take care of the paperwork, said police sources.

Investigators said no fight had taken place nor were there any signs that anything out of the ordinary was going on. His companions saw their friend begin to stagger and then suddenly fall to the ground bleeding, according to newspaper Berliner Zeitung. An ambulance subsequently took him to hospital, where he died several hours later.

English version by Nick Funnell.