Berlin police released security camera pictures as part of their hunt for a gang of young migrants who they believe attempted to murder a homeless man in Christmas day by setting him alight.

Officers have now arrested seven men between the ages of 15 and 21-years-old including six Syrians and one Libyan after their faces were identified from security camera footage at Berlin’s Schonleinstrasse subway station. The attack took place in the early hours of Christmas day, reports Germany’s best-selling broadsheet Welt, when the gang came across a homeless man sleeping on a station platform bench.

Setting fire to the sleeping man’s clothing, he was only saved from serious injury by the intervention of a passer-by and subway train driver, who brought a fire extinguisher from the cab of his train. Berlin police are to charge the men with attempted murder.

The city force released the images on Monday afternoon, and by Tuesday morning all seven of the migrants believed responsible had been taken into custody. Six handed themselves in, and the seventh was the subject of a citizen’s arrest, reports the Berliner Morgenpost.

It is reported police are treating the 21-year-old Syrian as the ringleader of the migrant gang.

German media have linked the attempted murder of the sleeping homeless man with another recent brutal attack by migrants on the subway which went viral after security camera footage was leaked on the internet. Showing a group of men approach a young woman from behind as she descends the stairs, a strong kick sends her flying to the bottom.

The woman was later admitted to hospital for a broken arm.

Under normal circumstances it can take weeks, if not months for security footage to be released to the public through official channels in Germany — and as Breitbart London reported in December, Berlin police seemed more interested in catching the police insider who released the footage illegally than the attacker himself.

The Bulgarian migrant thought responsible for the attack was later captured after he returned to Berlin by bus, having gone into hiding in France with relatives.

The worsening security situation on Berlin’s subway system, where criminal migrants choose to congregate and prey on travellers. Breitbart London reported in February 2016 on the Kottbusser subway stop, a high-traffic station for its proximity to popular bars and night spots, which had become a haven for migrant criminals.

Now more associated with drug use, pickpockets, and sexual abuse the station had descended to a “very, very bad” situation, according to reports.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dx3AaQzUFXs