The crash in Mannheim has caused another national outcry in Germany, where similar incidents took place last month in Munich and at a market in Magdeburg last December
A car used to plough into a crowd of people in Germany in a suspected attack that killed two people and injuring nearly a dozen more has been pictured for the first time.
German authorities said they have detained a man who drove a car into a crowd of people earlier today in a horror incident in the city of Mannheim, western Germany. Two people are confirmed to have died following the collision, which took place at around 12.15pm local time (11.15am GMT) with five people left critically injured and a further five injured after the “terrible act of violence”.
A 40-year-old suspect was arrested “critically injured” at the scene, with early reports suggesting they came from the neighbouring state of Rhineland-Palatinate. While there is not believed to be a continuing threat to the public, Mannheim Police have asked people to avoid the area as investigations continue, with photos showing the scale of devastation at the scene.
Pictures capturing the scene of the incident show police investigating a small black Ford that had taken heavy damage to its left hand side. Mannheim’s mayor Christian Specht, fresh from looking over the scene, explicitly referred to the incident as an attack, stating: “This disgusting, inhumane attack on peaceful people has shocked us all.
“Our thoughts are with the dead and injured, their relatives and friends.” Officials will visit the site of the attack later today after Germany’s President and incoming Chancellor expressed their well-wishes for the attack’s survivors and called for the country to become “safe again”.
Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the attack was “terrible” in a post via his spokeswoman on X, formerly Twitter. The President added: “I wish the injured a speedy recovery.” Mr Steinmeier also thanked police and emergency services who rushed to the scene, while Chancellor-designate Freidreich Merz said his thoughts were “with the victims and their families”.
Posting on the same platform, the CDU/CSU leader added: “My thoughts are with the victims and their families. The incident – as well as the terrible acts of the past few months – is a stark reminder to us: we must do everything we can to prevent such acts. Germany must become a safe country again.”
The attack follows two others across Germany in recent months, including one that rocked Munich in February and another in December 2024 when a driver hit a market in Magdeburg. The Munich attack, which killed two people and injured 28, was carried out by a 24-year-old Afghan national police believe may have had an “extremist background”.
Police do not believe today’s incident had a political or ideological motive.
