A driver plowed a car into pedestrians at a street carnival in Germany early Monday, killing two and injuring 25 others in an area on high alert for possible terrorist attacks, according to police and reports.
The driver crashed an SUV “at speed” into a pedestrian zone in the city of Mannheim in the state of Baden-Wurttemberg — before getting out and running off, police sources told Bild.
At least two people were killed and 25 others injured, the outlet said, with
videos shared online showing multiple bodies strewn on the ground as first responders attempted to resuscitate some of the most seriously injured.
A second clip shows armed police chasing a suspect, who was arrested soon after the carnage, according to BILD.“It is terrible here, nobody knows what happened, you only see injured people and the dead, and you don’t know what to do,” one eyewitness told Mannheimer Morgen.
It was unclear whether the driver deliberately targeted the Rose Monday carnival celebrations in the region — where police had been on alert for possible terrorism following a string of recent attacks.
Social media accounts linked to the Islamic State militant group called for attacks on events in Cologne and Nuremberg, officials had said.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser canceled her attendance at the Monday’s parade in Cologne — the country’s biggest — due to the events in Mannheim, a spokesperson for the minister said.
However, police did not immediately speculate on a motive for Monday’s deadly car attack.
Rose Monday is the culmination of the annual carnival season celebrated in Germany’s mainly Catholic western and southern regions.
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