2024-02-12 15:50:02
Ukrainian basketball player was stabbed to death in a street fight in Germany
(AFP, Berlin, 12th) German police said today that a 17-year-old Ukrainian basketball player was stabbed following an argument at a bus stop in Germany and died following being sent to hospital. The case sparked public outrage in Ukraine.
The incident occurred on the evening of the 10th in the western German city of Oberhausen. The deceased was Volodymyr Yermakov, who played for the Ukrainian youth national team and the German professional basketball team ART Giants Duesseldorf.
German police said that Yermakov and a Ukrainian teammate had a “verbal” argument with two other teenagers on a city bus in Oberhausen. The cause of the altercation is still under investigation.
The police pointed out that the dispute heated up following the two parties got out of the car and turned into a “physical conflict.” “According to preliminary investigation, someone pulled out a knife.”
Yermakov and his 18-year-old compatriot were injured in the ensuing fight. The injured also included a 14-year-old Syrian boy and a 13-year-old Lebanese-German girl.
According to the police, Yermakov and his compatriots suffered “life-threatening injuries.” All four injured were sent to the hospital for treatment, but Yermakov “died during first aid shortly following arriving at the hospital.”
Police pointed out that a 15-year-old boy with dual nationality of Turkey and Germany was arrested and charged with homicide. Another 14-year-old Greek-German boy was also detained on suspicion of involvement, but was released due to insufficient initial charges.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry today asked Germany to investigate the incident “as quickly as possible” and “bring the perpetrators to justice.”
The Kyiv Basketball Federation said: “These young basketball players were attacked with knives in the street just because they are Ukrainians.”
The Dusseldorf Giants posted on Facebook that Yermakov’s murder was “incomprehensible.” According to the team, he moved to Dusseldorf last year to escape Russia’s all-out war of aggression once morest Ukraine.
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