MANNHEIM:
A vehicle plowed into a crowd in Mannheim, western Germany, on Monday, resulting in the deaths of at least two people and leaving several others critically injured, according to local media reports. The incident cast a shadow over the region’s ongoing carnival festivities, where authorities had already heightened security due to potential threats.
Law enforcement apprehended the driver at the scene and later confirmed that he acted alone, ruling out any ongoing danger to the public. According to broadcaster SWR, citing Baden-Württemberg’s Interior Minister Thomas Strobl, the suspect is a 40-year-old German citizen from the neighboring state of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Authorities have yet to comment on the motives behind the incident. Witnesses described a chaotic scene, with multiple people lying on the ground, some receiving emergency resuscitation. It remains unclear whether the act was intentional or linked to the carnival season, which reached its peak on Rose Monday with various parades across Germany. However, Mannheim had already held its main festivities a day earlier.
