Two people have been killed and 10 injured after a car has rammed into a crowd in the German city of Mannheim, in the southwest of the country.
Police said they have arrested a man, the driver of a black SUV, who was reportedly being treated for his injuries in hospital under tight police protection.
Thomas Strobl, the interior minister of Baden-Wurttemberg state, said the suspect was a 40-year-old German man from the south-western state of Rhineland-Palatinate and was believed to have acted alone.
Police said there were no indications of extremist or religious links to the incident.
“Two people died from their injuries and several others are seriously injured,” Strobl said.
German media reported that the suspect had a history of mental health problems, while police said in a statement: “At the current stage of the investigation, there is no suspicion of a political background.”
Witnesses described seeing people lying on the ground after the car drove into the crowd, heading in the direction of a water tower.
Police said it remained unclear whether the vehicle had been deliberately driven into the crowds celebrating before the fasting season of Lent.
The incident follows a string of violent attacks in Germany, including other car rammings in Munich last month and in Magdeburg in December.
In May, Mannheim was the scene of a stabbing, in which a police officer was killed and five people wounded.
These attacks were carried out by migrants, fuelling a heated debate over the country’s immigration policy before Germany’s general election last month. The vote was won by the conservative CDU/CSU alliance, which campaigned on promises to tighten border controls. Meanwhile, the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative für Deutschland came second with its best-ever result.
The suspect in Monday’s attack, however, was understood to be a German citizen.
Germany’s carnival season culminates in Rosenmontag (Rose Monday), with crowds in fancy dress and parades of floats that typically feature comical and satirical displays of events dominating current affairs. Mannheim held its main parade on Sunday.
More than a week ago, security forces had alerted organisers of the celebration and the public about warnings published on social media accounts connected to the militant group Islamic State. The content called for followers to carry out attacks in the carnival strongholds of the Rhineland, to which Mannheim belongs, and areas in the south, which both Catholic regions.
Germany’s interior minister, Nancy Faeser, who had been due to attend a popular parade in Cologne on Monday, cancelled her attendance to travel to Mannheim instead, a spokesperson said.
Friedrich Merz, who is likely to be Germany’s next chancellor, wrote on X that “the incident – as well as the terrible acts of the past few months – is an urgent reminder that we must do everything we can to prevent such acts”.
Outgoing chancellor, Olaf Scholz, referred to the stabbing attack of last year, writing on X: “Once again, we mourn with Mannheim. Once again, we mourn with the families of the victims of a senseless act of violence.”
Kasim Timur (57), who runs a cafe near where the incident took place, told Spiegel online: “It breaks one’s heart.”
One of his colleagues had reported seeing some of the seriously injured, including children, he said. Another colleague, on her way to work, had seen a dark-coloured Ford car racing towards the area, he said.
“Initially, she thought it was someone who had caused an accident and fled the scene. Only later did she understand what had happened,” he said.
Mr Timur said the city had not yet got over the stabbing attack of less than a year ago. “Now, the horror is back,” he told Spiegel. “That is very scary.” – Guardian
