THE motive behind Saturday’s horrific attack on a Swiss train remained a mystery yesterday as the culprit and a female victim died of their injuries.

Five other people were hurt in Saturday’s assault in eastern Switzerland, including a six-year-old girl who was seriously injured.

The attacker, identified as a Swiss national acting alone, poured a flammable liquid onto the carriage floor and ignited it before stabbing fellow passengers with a knife.

“The question of motive remains,” police in the Saint Gallen region said in a statement. “To date there is no indication this was a terrorist or politically motivated act.”

“Terrorism is not our main theory,” police spokesman Bruno Metzger said, adding that “other motives” figured far higher, although he would not say what they were.

The incident took place on the line between Buchs and Sennwald near Salez station, not far from the eastern border with Liechtenstein and Austria.