1,000 Men Believed To Have Committed A Mass Sexual Assault In Germany

Approximately 1,000 men are said to be involved in a massive spree of sexual assaults occurring in western Germany on New Year's Eve.

According to NBC News, Cologne police said the attackers separated into groups of up to 20 men before groping and robbing dozens of women just outside the city's main train station.

The attackers also reportedly threw fireworks into large crowds and tore the underwear off at least one victim.

One woman said she was groped about 100 times, according to The Telegraph.

She reportedly said,

It was horror. Although we shouted and hit around us, the guys did not stop. I was desperate.

A 27-year-old victim said she was immediately surrounded by a huge crowd when she got to the train station.

She told Spiegel Online,

The entire square was full of almost exclusively men with just a few fearful women among them being stared at. I can hardly describe it. I felt very uncomfortable.

About 90 criminal complaints were filed, a quarter of which were for sexual assaults, The Telegraph reports.

Criminals have been known to sexually assault women to distract them from robberies, but police admitted such a large series of attacks at once is not common.

Wolfgang Albers, the Cologne police chief, told reporters the attackers appeared to be from the "North African or Arab world," leaving some to believe they may be among the roughly one million refugees who arrived in Germany in 2015.

Cologne officials will meet today to plan an effective response to the attacks and prevent further mass sexual assaults from taking place.

Editor's note: The above picture is Heiko Maas, the German federal minister of justice and consumer protection. 

Citations: Cologne Police: Roving Packs Sexually Assaulted Dozens on New Year's Eve (NBC News), New Year's Eve Attacks: Dozens of Women Sexually Assaulted in Cologne (Spiegel Online), German women report string of sexual assaults by 'Arab and North African men' (The Telegraph)