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Agence France-Presse

Some 30 people including children were injured when a car ploughed into a carnival procession in the small German town of Volkmarsen, with police arresting the driver but declining to speculate on a motive.
Prosecutors in Frankfurt said the 29-year-old suspect was a German national who faces charges of attempted homicide over the incident in the western state of Hesse.
The investigation was continuing “in all directions”, they said in a statement, after police stopped short of calling Monday’s incident an attack.
The drama came as Germany remains on high alert following a shooting spree by a far-right gunman in the city of Hanau, also in Hesse, last Wednesday, who killed 10 people.

Eyewitness reports at the carnival parade described the driver ploughing through a barrier in a silver car and driving straight through the crowd at high speed.
“It appears to have been an intentional act,” a local police spokesman told reporters, but said the incident was not being classified as an attack until investigators had more information.
Around 30 people were injured, some of them seriously, the Frankfurt prosecutors said. Children were among those hurt.
“There were children lying all over the street,” District administrator and Carnival spectator Reinhard Kubat said.
Group of 12 German extremists planned Christchurch-style mosque attacks
The driver was also injured and was receiving medical care, prosecutors added.
Citing sources close to the investigation, Spiegel weekly said the driver had apparently “consumed a high level of alcohol”.
Chancellor Angela Merkel said her thoughts are with family of the victims, as she wished them “a speedy and complete recovery”, according to her spokeswoman on Twitter.
Hesse state premier Volker Bouffier said he was “shocked at the terrible act”.

But he added: “The circumstances surrounding this act remain unclear and I urge you not to speculate about possible motives.”
As in many parts of the country, residents in Volkmarsen were celebrating Rose Monday, a highlight of annual carnival festivities that sees adults and children dress up and attend parades where people play music and throw candies from floats.
Steffen Roettger said his two daughters were at the parade and called him right after the incident.
“My 10-year-old was pulled aside and only narrowly avoided being hit,” he told NTV broadcaster.
He said the girl was “in shock” and needed medical attention after seeing people “lying around everywhere”.
Germany tightens hate speech and gun laws in wake of synagogue attack
“She won’t get those images out of her head in a hurry.”
Elmar Schulten, a reporter for the local Waldeckische Landeszeitung newspaper, told the Bild daily that locals in the town of some 7,000 people were in disbelief.
“We always thought this kind of thing only happened elsewhere,” he said.
Images from the scene showed police officers and rescue vehicles next to a silver Mercedes hatchback, having apparently come to a halt outside a Rewe supermarket.

A pile of debris can be seen on the road next to the car, including a broken wooden cart, a knocked-over traffic cone and bottles of sparkling wine.
Police in Hesse announced on Twitter that all carnival parades across the state had been cancelled as a precaution.
Gunman was ‘incel’ who wrote people from 20 countries should be ‘destroyed’
In last week’s attack in Hanau, the gunman – who left behind a racist manifesto – first opened fire at a shisha bar and a cafe, killing nine people, before shooting dead his mother and himself.
The rampage fuelled concerns over Germany’s increasingly emboldened far-right scene, after a pro-migrant politician was murdered in June and an anti-Semitic attack on a synagogue left two dead in the city of Halle last October.

Germany’s deadliest terror attack in recent history took place in 2016 when a jihadist drove his truck into a crowded Berlin Christmas market, killing 12 people.
The attacker, a failed Tunisian asylum seeker, had pledged allegiance to Islamic State.
The Christmas market assault prompted police across Germany to tighten security at public gatherings.
After the Hanau shootings, Interior Minister Horst Seehofer on Friday vowed to put more police at mosques, train stations, airports and borders.
Additional reporting by DPA and Reuters


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Germany

‘Children lying all over street’: shock in Germany after car rampage injures 30

Police forensic officers examine the car involved in the incident. Photo: Reuters

epa08244550 Peaopl react after a car crashed into a group of revelers during the Rose Monday carnival parade in Volkmarsen near Kassel, Germany 24 February 2020. According to reports, a man drove a car into revelers injuring at least 30 people including children. The driver of the car has been arrested. EPA-EFE/ELMAR SCHULTEN BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE

A handcart is seen at the place where a man drove into a carnival procession on February 24, 2020 in Volkmarsen near Kassel, central Germany. - Several people were injured when a car drove into a carnival procession in Volksmarsen, police said, adding that the driver had been arrested. (Photo by INA FASSBENDER / AFP)

epa08245120 Special police officer is seen outside the home of the man who drove his car and crashed into a group of revelers during the Rose Monday carnival parade in Volkmarsen near Kassel, Germany, 24 February 2020. According to reports, a man drove a car into revelers injuring at least 30 people including children. The driver of the car has been arrested. EPA-EFE/ARMANDO BABANI

epa08244411 Rescue workers and police officers stand next to a silver-coloured Mercedes car after it crashed into a group of revelers during the Rose Monday carnival parade in Volkmarsen near Kassel, Germany 24 February 2020. According to reports, a man drove a car into revelers injuring at least ten people including children. The driver of the car has been arrested. EPA-EFE/ELMAR SCHULTEN BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE

Group of 12 German far-right extremists planned Christchurch-style mosque attacks

An unidentified person is brought to the Federal Supreme Court by police officers in Karlsruhe, Germany. Photo: dpa via AP

One of twelve men suspected of involvement in a far-right group is escorted by police as he arrives for his hearing at Germany's general prosecutor in Karlsruhe, Germany, February 15, 2020. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

Hanau gunman who killed 10 was ‘incel’ who wrote people from more than 20 countries should be ‘destroyed’

German special forces prepare to search an area after the shootings in Hanau near Frankfurt. Photo: Reuters

A projectile lies on the sidewalk near a restaurant at the scene of a shooting in central Hanau, Germany Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020. Eight people were killed in shootings in the German city of Hanau on Wednesday evening, authorities said. Two hookah lounges reportedly were targeted. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)

View of one of the bars target of a shooting in Hanau, western Germany, on February 20, 2020. - At least eight people were killed in two shootings late on February 19 near the German city of Frankfurt, with an unknown number of attackers still at large, police said. The shootings targeted shisha bars in Hanau, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) from Frankfurt, according to local media, and police launched a huge manhunt in the town of around 90,000 people. (Photo by Yann Schreiber / AFP)

Forensic experts work around a damaged car after a shooting in Hanau near Frankfurt, Germany, February 20, 2020. REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach

A man who identifies himself as Tobias R makes a statement in a self-recorded video. Photo: AP

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Car drives into crowd, children among those seriously hurt
Driver arrested at the scene, police say motive unknown



Suspect, a 29-year-old German citizen, arrested on suspicion of attempted homicide after he ploughed his car into a carnival parade.


Crime

‘Children lying all over street’: shock in Germany after car rampage injures 30

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Car drives into crowd, children among those seriously hurt Driver arrested at the scene, police say motive unknown

Car drives into crowd, children among those seriously hurt

Driver arrested at the scene, police say motive unknown