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Cologne Police Alerted to 22 Sexual Assaults During Carnival

© AP Photo / Martin MeissnerPolice check toy guns during the start of the street carnival in Cologne, Germany
Police check toy guns during the start of the street carnival in Cologne, Germany - Sputnik International
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Police in the western German city of Cologne have been informed about 22 sexual assault incidents in the first night of the traditional carnival, one of them involving a suspect with refugee background.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Two of the cases were "grievous," police chief Michael Temme said Friday, as cited by the local Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.

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In one incident, a Belgian female reporter was groped on camera as she covered the annual week-long celebrations in North Rhine-Westphalia.

According to a police statement, the second attack took place in central Cologne early Friday. Police said a young woman was approached by an unknown man who knocked her out and raped her.

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"Police involved [in investigation] detained a 17-year-old man near the scene who has asylum-seeker status in Germany," the statement read.

Security was stepped up in Cologne following a series of sexual attacks on women on New Year’s Eve, where groups of men of North African origin targeted female revelers.

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