Dozens injured as German man slams car into carnival crowd

A man intentionally drove a car into a crowd at a Carnival parade in the German town Volkmarsen, injuring around 30 people including children, officials said.
Prosecutors said that the driver, a 29-year-old German citizen was arrested at the scene and is being investigated on suspicion of attempted homicide. The crash came amid Germany’s celebration of Carnival, with the biggest parades in Cologne, Duesseldorf and Mainz. Witnesses said the car drove around a barrier blocking off traffic from the parade.
Prosecutors added that the victims were taken to surrounding hospitals. Some of them have life-threatening injuries. The suspect was also injured.
Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her condolences to those injured, and wished them a speedy and full recovery. “This is a terrible act committed against people who simply wanted to celebrate Carnival,” said Peter Beuth, the interior minister for the state of Hesse. As a precaution, other Carnival parades in Hesse were ended.
Last week, also in Hesse state, a 43-year-old man killed nine people with immigrant backgrounds, before killing his mother and then himself. Officials said the attacks were motivated by far-right beliefs.
Authorities have so far refrained from calling the latest incident an attack, until they know more about the driver’s motives. “I saw him drive off, he looked as if he was on drugs and said ‘soon I’ll be in the papers'”, a neighbour of the suspect told the media.