According to local media reports, at least two persons have been killed and several others injured after a car rammed into a crowd in the western German city of Mannheim after police warned of terrorist threats at regional carnival festivities.
Police spokesperson Stefan Wilhelm said, on Monday, a driver of a black SUV bumped into a group of people in Paradeplatz, a square in a pedestrianised area of Mannheim. According to the police, the driver is reportedly being treated for his injuries in the hospital under tight police protection.
According to the interior minister of Baden-Württemberg state, Thomas Strobl, the suspect was a 40-year-old German man from the southwestern state of Rhineland-Palatinate who was believed to have acted alone.
The minister also confirmed that two people lost their lives and several others were seriously injured.
Strobl added, “The police are working hard to clarify what happened, the background to the crime, and the perpetrator’s motivation.”
Witnesses reported seeing people lying on the ground at the scene near the central pedestrianised Paradeplatz after the car crashed into the crowd, heading in the direction of a water tower.
According to the police, it is still unclear whether the driver intentionally crashed his car into the carnival revelers prior to the Lent fasting season.
However, the event followed a series of violent attacks, including two earlier car crashings in Magdeburg in December and Munich last month. In May 2024, a police officer was stabbed to death and five others were injured in Mannheim.
