Several others injured in incident in western Germany and one person in custody, police spokesperson says.
At least one person has been killed and others injured when a car rammed into a crowd in the western German city of Mannheim, police say as they ask the public to stay away from the downtown area.
Police spokesperson Stefan Wilhelm said a driver on Monday rammed into a group of people in Paradeplatz, a square in a pedestrianised area of Mannheim.
He said “several” people were injured but police could not yet specify how many were hurt or how badly they were hurt.
“We can confirm that one perpetrator was arrested,” he said. “We can’t yet give information on whether there were further perpetrators.”
Paradeplatz, a major square in the downtown area, lies at the end of a pedestrianised street in Mannheim, which has a population of 326,000 and is 85km (53 miles) south of Frankfurt.
Mannheim University Hospital said it was prepared for a possible mass casualty incident, the German news agency dpa reported. The hospital has implemented its disaster and emergency plan to prepare for the care of the injured.
The incident comes a day after Mannheim held a street parade, the main event in its annual carnival celebrations. Across Germany, many people have taken a long weekend off to celebrate carnival, including Rose Monday, when many cities hold parades.
German cities have seen several violent attacks recently, including stabbing sprees and car-ramming attacks.
Last month, a man drove a car into a trade union demonstration in the southern city of Munich, killing a two-year-old girl and her mother.
In December a car-ramming attack targeted a Christmas market in the eastern city of Magdeburg, killing six people and wounding hundreds.
Mannheim itself was the scene of a stabbing attack at an anti-Islam rally last May in which a policeman was killed and five others wounded.
Before Monday’s incident in Mannheim, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said that festivities were taking place “with high security precautions”.
She cancelled her visit to the Rose Monday parade in Cologne due to the events in Mannheim, a spokesperson for the minister said.
