2 months ago
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A female employee of a brothel in Austria, where three young women were brutally killed in a knife massacre, has said she 'locked herself in a room' and overheard the murders of her colleagues.
The worker at the Asia Studio, in one of Vienna's poorest districts, managed to avoid the horrific stabbing on Friday night by hiding in a separate room at the red light establishment, according to police spokesman Philipp Hasslinger.
It is not yet clear what the employee's role was at the brothel.
The survivor, who said she did not see the killer, has now been questioned by police as an earwitness in the absence of any eyewitnesses.
She told authorities that the door to her hiding spot remained shut for the duration of the massacre.
A worker at the Asia Studio managed to avoid the horrific stabbing on Friday night by hiding in a separate room at the red light establishment, according to police
The survivor told authorities that the door to her hiding spot in the brothel (pictured) remained shut for the duration of the massacre
When emergency services arrived at the establishment which calls itself an 'erotic massage' parlour, they found the victims with severe cuts and stab wounds and soon realised that they had already died.
The massacre was spread across several rooms with bodies found in separate rooms.
The brothel stabbing was one act in an appalling weekend of violence in Austria.
A similar but separate incident saw a mother and her 13-year-old daughter found dead in a Vienna apartment earlier on Friday.
Austrian media reported that the father was a prime suspect in the deaths which were likely caused by strangling or choking.
Police began interrogating a suspect this afternoon, who was arrested opposite the scene of the shocking bloodbath.
The 27-year-old suspect is an asylum seeker from Afghanistan.
Police said he acted aggressively when arrested and had to be Tasered before being taken to hospital to treat injuries which Mr Hasslinger said were most likely picked up while he carried out the attack.
When emergency services arrived at the establishment which calls itself an 'erotic massage' parlour, they found the victims with severe cuts and stab wounds and soon realised that they had already died
Police began interrogating a 27-year-old suspect, an asylum seeker from Afghanistan, this afternoon, who was arrested opposite the scene of the shocking bloodbath
Questioning is being conducted with the help of an interpreter.
There is still no indication of the killer's motive.
Austrian women's groups recorded 26 murders against women last year, with many being carried out by partners or ex-partners, and the Austrian government has vowed to crack down on these killings.
But NGOs say the government is not doing enough to stop the murders.
Between 2010 and 2020, 319 women were killed in Austria, mostly by their male partners or ex-partners, with a record high of 43 victims in 2019, according to a government study.
In 2021, a 35-year-old mother of two died after being shot dead in a northern district of Vienna.
Police later arrested a 42-year-old man on suspicion of murder, believed to have killed the woman with a handgun.
The story, marking the ninth femicide that year, sparked outcry from activists calling for more to be done to prevent future fatalities.
Green Transport Minister Leonore Gewessler called for more action on the issue at a press conference.
Women's Minister Susanne Raab said she was 'profoundly saddened' by the 'shocking murder'.
The brothel is in Brigittenau - one of Vienna's poorest districts - with the massacre spread across several rooms
Police said the suspect acted aggressively when arrested and had to be Tasered before being taken to hospital to treat injuries which Mr Hasslinger said were most likely picked up while he carried out the attack
A spokesman for the Vienna State Police Department told BILD: 'The perpetrator is not Austrian. He first had to be treated in hospital because he injured himself while carrying out the crime.
'He was then handed over to police custody.
'The interrogations and investigations into the background to the crime are now in full swing.'
