GETTY Police arrested five men after a 12-year-old girl reported she had been attacked at a swimming pool

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Officers said the girl approached a lifeguard at the pool in the Zündorf district of the city at 2.30pm on Sunday afternoon claiming she was indecently touched by a man near the water slide. The girl claimed the man and his friends caused a "traffic jam" on the slide where he then took the opportunity to grope at her bikini top and bottom. The pool staff immediately called police and comforted the girl who was said to be extremely distraught. Five of the men, aged between 17 and 45, were arrested but later freed.

GETTY The girl said the men had caused a 'traffic jam' on the water slide

The perpetrators were immediately arrested Walter Reinarz

They are reported to be from Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. The nationality and status of the sixth man was not immediately clear. Five of the arrested men are asylum seekers housed outside of Cologne while they wait for their residency claims to be processed. The public prosecutor's office in the city has appealed for witnesses, especially to confirm whether other children were abused.

GETTY The incident happened in Cologne, Germany

Local conservative CDU party district chairman Walter Reinarz condemned the alleged attack stating: "We promise our full support for the young girl and her parents. It is good that the perpetrators were immediately arrested by police. "This shows that our security systems work. We expect the Cologne justice system to work quickly so that the perpetrators can be lastingly held accountable and deported quickly." He said measures were being drawn up to prevent such attacks in the future.

GETTY The men, not pictured, are reportedly from Iraq and Syria

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