UPDATED: Man drives into crowd in Munich, Perpetrator must be punished and leave the country, German leader says
Munich police said Thursday afternoon there was no public danger after a car drove into a group of people earlier in the day in the capital city of Germany’s southern state of Bavaria, with fire officials adding that at least 20 people were injured in the incident.
The driver was detained promptly at the scene, Munich police said, later saying that he was a 24-year-old Afghan national who was known to the police.
“The driver of the vehicle was secured on the spot; he currently poses no further danger,” police said.
A police spokesman also said that it remains initially unclear how seriously the people were injured, and whether the crash was an accident or a deliberate act.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has condemned the incident as a “terrible attack”.
He added “this perpetrator cannot assume that they will be able to remain here”.
The suspect “must be punished and must leave the country”, he added.
“The government will be starting flights back to Afghanistan despite the lack of diplomatic ties,” he also said.
“And although this is complicated because you can’t fly them there directly, this is something that we will continue to do, not just as a one-off, but as a continuous thing.”
In August, Germany said it is resuming flights for convicted criminals of Afghan nationality to their home country.
That came days before a regional election, in which immigration was a major campaign issue.
With national elections this month, immigration is once again a major talking point, with far-right party AfD doing well in polls.
Broadcaster BR24 said the group reportedly consisted of people carrying out a token strike by the trade union Verdi.
It also quoted eyewitnesses as saying two men had been in the car, with one of them being shot by police and carried away. Police were calling on the public to refrain from speculation, it said.
The incident comes on the eve of the Munich Security Conference, a gathering of leaders that starts on Friday and includes U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy among its participants.
The incident took place Thursday morning in the Dachauer Strasse area, outside of the city’s historic center and 20 minutes walking distance from where the security conference is taking place.
The news magazine Focus saidsome of the 20 injured were in critical condition, with police saying two people were seriously injured.
The city’s mayor, Dieter Reiter, said he was “deeply shocked” by what had happened and that children were among the injured.
According to German newspaper Bild, a person drove a Mini Cooper into a demonstration by service workers’ union Verdi.
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