A police investigation is underway in the German port city of Hamburg after five women, who were returning home from the Christopher Street Day celebrations, otherwise known as Hamburg Pride, were viciously attacked by five men on a train.
The group of females, aged from 19 to 26, was returning home from the pro-LGBT festival to Hanover at around 1 a.m. early on Sunday morning when they encountered the group of males who reportedly complained they were being too loud.
The men, from Braunschweig in north-central Germany, proceeded to attack the group of females, punching them to the floor and kicking them in the head, the Hamburger Morgenpost reported.
The women suffered significant injuries and were hospitalized for further treatment.
The attack was broken up by police as the train stopped at the platform in Winsen, and authorities sought to identify those involved.
Initial investigations by the Harburg Police Inspectorate and the Bremen Federal Police Inspectorate revealed the men were aged 18 to 32 and were all German nationals with a “southern migration background.”
Police are investigating on suspicion of dangerous bodily harm and are seeking to determine if homophobia was an aggravating factor in the attack.
