Eight foreign nationals have been arrested for surrounding and sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl in a Cologne swimming pool in Germany, with the girl managing to free herself and immediately alert police on Sunday.

According to police, there are eight suspects between the ages of 16 and 26 who are said to have surrounded the girl in a bathroom at the pool. They harassed her and fondled her, according to the police report released on Monday.

The main suspect, a 16-year-old Iraqi, is said to have reached inside the girl’s bikini bottom. She freed herself from her attackers and went to inform a lifeguard, who then called the police. They arrived in seven patrol cars and discovered the suspects at the exit of the pool, according to German broadcaster ZDF.

Three of the other suspects have Turkish citizenship and four have Syrian citizenship. The investigation remains in its early stages, and it is unclear how far the sexual assault went, but the 16-year-old Iraqi has already been charged with sexual assault.

“All the interrogations are still pending. Of course, that takes time,” said a police spokesman. The suspects have already been released after having their identification processed.

According to the police, there is also a male witness who saw the incident and provided information about it. 

The spokesperson from the pool, the KölnBader, confirmed there was a sexual assault on the property but would not provide further details other than to say: “The victim spoke to our employee who responded calmly.”

Police are currently searching for more witnesses. It is not the first sexual assault of a young teen girl this summer at a swimming pool. In June, seven women were sexually assaulted by migrants at one pool in Stuttgart, with one of the victims being only 12 years old.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party released a statement about the alleged sexual assault, writing: “A disgusting and speechless crime occurred on Sunday in an outdoor pool in Cologne’s Agrippabad: A 13-year-old girl was harassed, surrounded and then sexually abused by a group of eight foreign men (16 to 26).”

The party also referenced the mass sexual assault attacks also seen in Cologne in 2016.

“And again, the reactions of the established parties are predictable: nothing but unbearable phrases, appeasements, silence and trivialization — instead of finally deporting people and protecting our children and women! In the city of Cologne in particular, sexual abuse brings back horrific memories: on New Year’s Eve 2015, there were hundreds of sexual attacks by migrants in the area of Cologne Cathedral and the main train station. The mass migration ideologues in Cologne have apparently learned nothing. The incredible extent of the suppression of reality and the mockery of victims culminated in the statement by the still incumbent mayor of Cologne, Henriette Reker, that women should keep an ‘arm’s length away.’ But this helpless 13-year-old girl in the swimming pool had no chance of getting an ‘arm’s length distance.’ She is the victim of a political mainstream that puts its ideology before the protection of women and girls.”

Sexual assault rampant in German swimming pools

As Remix News has reported in the past, migrants committing sexual violence and assaults inside pool establishments have plagued the country in recent years.

In 2016, a town near Cologne banned all migrant men from going to a public pool due to repeated cases of sexual harassment and one criminal case. The ban was instituted to persuade asylum seekers to “change their behavior,” according to town authorities. A leaked police report in 2016 also showed that there was a concerning rise in migrant sexual assaults at swimming pools in the German city of Düsseldorf.

Last year, three 12-year-old girls were sexually assaulted in the Kaufbeuren public swimming pool in Bavaria by a group of six older teenagers described as having dark skin and speaking broken German. Police are still looking for the suspects.

The internal report stated, “(We) can confirm a surge in sex crimes at these establishments. In particular rape and the sexual abuse of children in bathing establishments have given us grave cause for concern. The perpetrators are, for the most part, immigrants.”

In 2017, two asylum seekers, including a Syrian former ISIS member, were arrested for sexually assaulting two girls, aged 12 and 14.

Last year, in Berlin, there were numerous mass brawls involving migrant men, including one that was caught on film and ended up going viral.