A musician playing at a festival in Germany at which three people were killed in a knife attack has told how he continued performing “to avoid causing a mass panic”.

DJ and producer Topic shared a statement on Instagram following the attack in his hometown of Solingen, near Dusseldorf, on Friday night, saying he continued on stage as the incident unfolded.

Three people died and eight were injured, five of them seriously wounded. German police have not yet made any arrests and a manhunt is currently under way.

In his statement, Topic said it was “incredibly hard” but he kept playing, and later went into hiding nearby as police helicopters “circled” overhead.

“During my set, security personnel from the city came to me and asked me to please continue playing to avoid causing a mass panic, as there were already people killed by a stabbing attacker,” he wrote.

“So I kept playing, even though it was incredibly hard. After about 10-15 minutes, the music was finally stopped, and the people were informed about the incident.”

People were reportedly stabbed at random in the Fronhof market square, where live musicians were playing, in the western city of Solingen at about 9.45pm local time on Friday.

People had gathered for the Festival of Diversity which started on Friday to mark the 650th anniversary of the 160,000-strong city.

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Topic, who is known for hits including My Heart Goes (La Di Da) with British singer Becky Hill, and ATB remix Your Love (9PM), went on to say: “I still can’t believe it… this was supposed to be a free festival for everyone. Really close friends of mine were there with their small kids…

“I’m writing all this while a helicopter is still flying over the house where I grew up as a kid, in a ‘small’ town in Germany. What’s happening to this world…

“My thoughts are with all the victims.”

Solingen is in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state, bordering the Netherlands.

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