Dozens injured in Munich, including children, after driver rams car into crowd
Global News
Demonstrators were walking along a street when a car overtook a police vehicle following the gathering and accelerated, and the driver plowed into the back of the group.
German police said a driver drove a car into a union demonstration in central Munich on Thursday, injuring at least 28 people, including children. Officials said it was believed to be an attack.
Participants were taking part in a demonstration connected to a strike organized by Verdi, the key trade union for Germany’s public sector. Demonstrators were walking along a street at about 10:30 a.m. when the car, a Mini Cooper, overtook a police vehicle following the gathering and accelerated, and the driver plowed into the back of the group, police said.
The suspect, who is believed to be a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker, was arrested, according to Munich police director Christian Huber. The incident follows a series of attacks involving immigrants in recent months that have pushed migration to the forefront of the campaign for Germany’s Feb. 23 election.
Bavaria’s state interior minister, Joachim Herrmann, said the suspect was known to authorities in connection with theft and drug offences, but didn’t give further details. The state’s justice minister, Georg Eisenreich, said a prosecutors’ department that investigates extremism and terror was looking into the case.
“It is suspected to be an attack — a lot points to that,” Bavaria Premier Markus Söeder told reporters.
Officers arrested the suspect after firing a shot at the car, according to Huber. He said at least 28 people were believed to be injured, with some sustaining serious injuries.
The damaged Mini Cooper was seen at the scene, along with debris including shoes, water bottles and a stroller.
A witness, who said he saw the incident from a window of a neighbouring office building, saw the car had threaded its way between the police vehicles and then accelerated, he said. Another witness, who said she had seen part of the incident from a building, saw the car accelerate and hit several people in the crowd.
