German police open terrorism investigation after eight injured in truck attack
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German police have opened a terrorism investigation after eight people were injured by a lorry that rammed into traffic.
Officers have arrested a Syrian man in connection with the incident in the western town of Limburg on Monday night, which is being treated as attempted murder.
The suspect, 32, is believed to have hijacked the lorry, although prosecutor Ralf Badle has declined to comment on a possible motive.
A view of the scene of an accident involving a stolen truck in Limburg, Germany, 07 October 2019 (issued 08 October 2019). According to police, a man reportedly stole the truck and crashed with seven cars, injuring nine people. Media reports state that authorities are investigating the incident on the suspicion of a terrorist attack. EPA-EFE/MAXIMILIAN SEE
German Interior Minister Horst Seehofer said the motive behind the incident remained unclear.
When asked if it was a possible terror attack, Seehofer told reporters gathered for an EU meeting in Luxembourg: “I can’t tell you at this point how this act is to be assessed.”
The man reportedly arrived in Germany from his native Syria in 2015 and lived in the Offenbach area near Frankfurt. He was granted subsidiary protection the following year — a status given to those who do not qualify as refugees but are in danger if they return to their country of origin.
The crash in Limburg, which is located north of the financial city of Frankfurt, came almost three years after a similar incident at a Christmas market in Berlin.
