IG/GETTY German police are investigating a sex assault in a Hamburg park

FREE now and never miss the top politics stories again. SUBSCRIBE Invalid email Sign up fornow and never miss the top politics stories again. We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

Officers in the German city of Hamburg are appealing for witnesses following the brutal attack on the female hospital worker, who was unconscious for so long that she developed hypothermia. The 28-year-old was walking to her car from work at the nearby Asklepios hospital when she apparently heard cries for help coming from a nearby park.

But when she rushed into the dark space to offer assistance she was set upon by five men and was beaten unconscious and mugged. Police said there was also evidence that the gang had sexually abused their victim, and that they were not talking German to one another during the attack.

There is nothing at this stage to suggest that the men involved in the horrific assault were recently arrived refugees. Officers said the young woman was left unconscious in the park by her attackers, and called the emergency services herself when she awoke several hours later. When paramedics arrived she was suffering from hypothermia and some of her clothes had been torn from her body, according to the German tabloid Bild.

Cologne: Sex Attacks and Robberies Tue, January 12, 2016 Thirty-one suspects, including 18 asylum seekers, are under investigation over offences including sexual assault and theft in Cologne on New Year's Eve. Far right protestors in Lepzig have rallied against refugees and German chancellor Angela Merkel. Play slideshow Reuters•Getty 1 of 22 Protestors in Lepzig rally after over 100 women were sexually assualted on New Year's Eve