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The editor of Bild has apologised for the report last Tuesday which said allegations of sexual assaults emerged from pub owners and revellers located in the central business district of the German banking capital. Police have now told press: "The interrogations of the witnesses, guests and staff have created considerable doubt about the portrayal of events. "A person allegedly affected by the actions was not in the city at all when the crime occurred." The story was reported in Bild last Tuesday and also covered by the Central European News agency.

Getty The report said there were mass sex attacks on NYE

In the original article, Bild reported one of the victims Irina A., 27, said: "I can be happy that I wore sheer tights. They [the migrants] grabbed me under the skirt, between my legs, my breasts, everywhere. "Me and my girlfriends. More and more of these guys came. Their hands were everywhere." All of the women were reported to be have been celebrating at the city's Fressgass - an upmarket shopping and nightlife street. Bild claimed in one incident dozens of men assaulted multiple women in the popular street. It said it had taken over a month for many of the victims to come forward and talk about the event. Pub owners reported that Arabic and North African looking men had bothered guests, stolen their drinks, nicked jackets and thrown bottles and pyrotechnics, it claimed.

Getty The allegations of sexual assaults emerged from pub owners and revellers, Bild reported

Local pub owner Jan Mai was quoted as saying: "When I came in, the whole place was full with a group of around 50 Arabs. They did not speak German, drank our guests' drink and danced towards them. The women asked me for help because they were being attacked. The mood changed completely." Mai quickly gathered more staff from his restaurant around the corner, after which one of his Moroccan employees tried to talk with the North Africans. He said: "They were highly aggressive, there was shouting and hand gestures." In the Bild article it is claimed, when the police arrived, the migrant mob had already dispersed and moved on to another pub, where owner Thomas A. was allegedly severely injured by them. The 900 "mostly drunk refugees" came by train from towns around the state of Hesse to Frankfurt, it said.

Getty It was claimed police held a group of men on New Year's Eve following reports of assaults

Frankfurt authorities were investigating the allegations. The German newspaper's report said when asked why he did not go public earlier, the restaurateur replied: "It was not a very good advertisement." But he was appalled and angry when he read that city authorities spoke of an overwhelmingly peaceful New Year's celebration, it reported. The police at the time said that no official complaints had been made but that descriptions of the sex attacks were "worrying".