Germany: Man deliberately drives car at pedestrians in what its being treated as xenophobic attack

A man drove a car into pedestrians in two neighboring German cities overnight to New Year’s Day, injuring four people in what police say could be attacks motivated by the xenophobic attitude of the driver.

Shortly after midnight, the 50-year-old man is reported to have driven deliberately at one male pedestrian in Bottrop, who managed to avoid being hit. The driver then continued on toward the inner city, where he rammed into a group of people standing next to the street, injuring at least four, some seriously.

Police say that the victims included Syrian and Afghan nationals.

The man also tried to drive into a group of people waiting at a bus stop in the neighboring Ruhr city of Essen, before he was stopped and arrested by police.

Police said the man, said to live in Essen, made racist comments after he was arrested. They also said they had received information suggesting that the man was suffering from a mental illness.

DW