Counter-terrorism police are investigating a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker suspected of deliberately ploughing a car into a crowd in Munich, injuring 28 people.
The asylum seeker, named in German media as Farhad N, was arrested by police soon after the attack.
At least two people are fighting for their lives after a Mini Cooper rammed the protest organised by trade union Verdi, with children among the dozens of injured.
An injured person is taken away by emergency services at the scene of an accident after a driver hit a group of people in Munich, Germany, on Thursday. Pic: Michael Fischer/dpa via AP
The attack took place a mile away from the venue of the Munich Security Conference which begins on Friday, with US vice president JD Vance and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky due to arrive in the city on Thursday.
Police fired gunshots at the car after it weaved between the police vehicles tailing the demonstration and drove into the crowd.
Shellshocked witnesses told of hearing an “engine roar” and “wheels spinning”, with images showing dozens of police surrounding a smashed-up Mini Cooper as debris was strewn across the floor in the wake of the crash.
At a press briefing on Thursday, Bavarian governor Markus Söder said the incident was “suspected to be an attack”.
Investigations are being carried out by the Bavarian Central Office for Combating Extremism and Terrorism, state minister Georg Eisenreich added.
Although eyewitnesses told Bild that two men were seen in the Mini, police said they “cannot confirm” whether more than one person was involved.
Udo Kunte told Merkur, a local newspaper: “Suddenly there was an engine roar behind us, wheels spinning and then there was just a clattering.”
Another demonstrator told Bayerischer Rundfunk: “I was in the demonstration and saw that a man was lying under the car. Then I tried to open the door, but it was locked.”
Munich’s mayor Dieter Reiter told Bild: “The police chief has just informed me that a vehicle drove into a group of people and unfortunately many people were injured, including children. I am deeply shocked. My thoughts are with the injured.”
Emergency services attend the scene of an incident after a driver hit a group of people in Munich, Germany, on Thursday. Pic: Matthias Balk/dpa via AP
The alleged attacker was already known to police for drug-related offences and shoplifting, Bavarian interior minister Joachim Herrmann told reporters.
Verdi, Germany’s second largest trade union with around 1.9m members, had called a strike for childcare workers to call for better wages and working conditions.
Frank Werneke, the union’s chairman, said in a statement that they are “deeply dismayed and shocked” by the incident. “This is a difficult moment for all colleagues. We unions stand for solidarity, especially in such a dark hour.”
Farhad N, born in Kabul in 2001, first arrived in Germany from Afghanistan at the end of 2016, according to Der Spiegel.
He is reported to have had his asylum application rejected by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees.
Mr Herrman confirmed that he had arrived in the country as an asylum seeker adding that his application had “probably” been rejected, Die Zeit reported.
But Mr Herrman added that the suspect “cannot be deported at the moment and that he was therefore allowed to continue to stay in our country”.
He had been granted a toleration permit which means that deportation is suspended, Der Spiegel said.
Emergency services attend the scene of an incident after a driver hit a group of people in Munich, Germany, on Thursday. Pic: Christoph Trost/dpa via AP
The Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office told Die Zeit that there are at least “indications of an extremist background”.
According to Der Spiegel, Farhad N made Islamist posts on social media before allegedly carrying out the crime.
Police do not currently believe those injured in the attack – protestors linked with the Verdi trade union – were targeted specifically.
“At the moment we are actually assuming that the target group here, that the victims from the ranks of this Verdi demonstration, were more of a coincidence,” Mr Herrman told reporters according to Die Zeit. “But of course that also needs to be investigated.”
“So far we know that he has been caught with drugs and shoplifting, but according to the current state of the investigation, no violence has been detected,” a police spokesperson said.