The car entered a crowd of people in the center of Mannheim in the western part of Germany. At least two people are dead, there are many injured. The suspect was captured, he is a German citizen. It is not clear whether the event in Mannheim was an accident or act of terror. “We mourn Mannheim once again, once again we mourn the families of victims of a senseless act of violence,” wrote Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The incident occurred on Planken Street – one of the main shopping streets in the center of Mannheim. A police spokesman confirmed the information that the car driver entered the crowd. He also informed that the police took the suspect. It is currently not clear whether the tragic event in Mannheim was an accident or act of terror.
According to the DPA agency, the driver was wounded and is currently in the hospital. He is a 40-year-old German citizen.
According to the German daily Bild, at least two people were killed and 25 were injured, including 15. As “Bild” wrote, most streets in the city center were closed. “All roads and bridges coming out of the city are controlled by policemen armed with machine guns, and a helicopter circulates above Mannheim,” says the German newspaper.
The university hospital said that there are currently a total of three patients in the facility. Two adults and the child were qualified as people who require urgent medical assistance.
The witness of the incident passed on Reuters that he saw several people lying on the ground after the car entered people. According to the witness, two people were resuscitated.
Police in the state of the highest readiness
The media point out that the accident occurred when the crowds were accumulating in cities in West German Rhineland in the carnival parades.
Reuters informs that the German police are in a state of the highest readiness in connection with this year's carnival parades after social media accounts related to the combat group of the so -called Islamic countries called for attacks on events in Cologne and Nuremberg.
The car entered a crowd of people in the West German city of MannheimEPA/Ronald Wittek
This is another attack in Germany recently. In December, the car entered a crowd of people in Magdeburg, and in Munich last week. In Mannheim in May 2024, the man killed a policeman with a knife and wounded five other people.
Scholz: We mourn Mannheim again
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed compassion for the families of the victims. “We cannot accept it. I would like to thank all the emergency services from the bottom of my heart. I wish you a lot of strength to reconcile with what they experienced” – emphasized the German Chancellor in his post on Platform X.
“We mourn Mannheim once again, once again we mourn the families of victims of a senseless act of violence,” admitted Scholz.
The President of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Friedrich Merz, the leader of the Blocks of the CDU/CSU, and most likely the future Chancellor of Germany, also expressed compassion for the victims, wounded and their families.
“My thoughts are with the victims and their families,” Merz wrote on X. “This incident – like terrible acts (violence) from the last few months – is an urgent reminder: we must do everything in our power to prevent them” – said the Chaded leader. In his opinion, Germany must become a safe country again.
Source of the main photo: EPA/Ronald Wittek