At least two people have died and two others have been seriously injured this Monday after a car rammed into a group of pedestrians in the center of Leipzig, in eastern Germany, according to local media MDR, citing the Police.
The authorities have confirmed to Reuters that there have been injuries after a vehicle passed through the area, although at the moment they have not offered more official details about the scope of the event or the circumstances surrounding it.
According to the first reports from local media, the vehicle involved would be a Volkswagen SUV that traveled at high speed through a pedestrian area. Witnesses claim that the car crossed the central Grimmaische Straße street before hitting several people.
Images released by the local press show a damaged vehicle and a person on the hood during the incident. In addition, some witnesses have indicated that there were several bodies on the ground covered with sheets.
A possible stabbing related to the event is also being investigated, although this has not been confirmed by the authorities.
The accident has caused a wide deployment of emergencies, with numerous ambulances and a helicopter in the area, while the Police have cordoned off the city center and have ordered the closure of nearby businesses.
For now, the causes of the incident are unknown and it has not been clarified whether it was accidental or intentional. Authorities continue to investigate what happened.
The detainee, a 33-year-old German
The suspect, already detained, is a 33-year-old man of German nationality, authorities reported at a press conference. The Minister of the Interior of the Saxony region, Armin Schuster, stated that it is assumed that the detainee acted alone and that therefore the city is now completely safe again.
“If we say intentional multiple assault, we refer to an act that is committed in a state of frantic anger, which often goes hand in hand with a state of psychological instability,” he said, when asked about the information that the arrested person suffers from a psychiatric disorder.
Schuster also conveyed his “deep condolences” to the victims’ loved ones and thanked the police for their swift intervention, which made it possible to quickly apprehend the suspect, who did not resist and is now in police custody.
Also the prosecutor who has assumed the investigation of the events, Claudia Laube, started from a deliberate outrage, for which proceedings have been opened for murder and attempted murder. He indicated that the collection of evidence at the scene continues at this time.
The head of the Leipzig Police, René Demmler, specified for his part that the suspect was born in Germany and resided in the region, without explaining whether, as media outlets such as the NTV television network had pointed out, he had a police record.
