July 2, 2009 - 5:09 PM

Students held over Munich assault

Munich police have opened an inquiry into the attempted murder of a man who was allegedly beaten up by a group of Swiss teenagers.

A German police spokesman said the 46-year-old man was attacked in a street near his hotel in Munich on Tuesday night.

The attack was "very brutal", unprovoked and resulted in the man receiving hospital treatment for multiple head fractures, police said.

Three 16-year-old students from Zurich were arrested in connection with the assault and remain in custody. Another two, aged 15 and 17, were questioned and later released. The group was reportedly in the city on a school trip.

The public prosecutor, Laurent Lafleur, described the case as a "bloody folly, thankfully without guns".

swissinfo.ch and agencies