At least four people were killed and 15 others injured on Tuesday when they were hit by a car in the Western German city of Trier, police said. Regional Premier Malu Dreyer said a baby was among those killed.
A 51-year-old man, named by Spiegel Magazine as Bernd W., from the Trier-Saarburg area was arrested, police announced on Twitter. He drove into a pedestrian area deliberately and appears to have hit people “at random”, Karl-Peter Jochem, a spokesman for local police said.
The driver’s motive is still unclear. Police said he would be questioned but that this would be “very difficult”. He drove a silver SUV, which managed to travel about one kilometre through the pedestrian zone before being stopped by police.
Police say reports he was armed are false. They believe he acted alone and there is no further danger. People have been asked to keep their children at school because much of the city centre is still cordoned off, causing traffic jams.
Mayor Wolfram Leibe told the SWR broadcaster that in addition to the four dead, 15 people had suffered serious injuries.
“I just walked downtown and it was awful. It was a sight of horror. There’s a trainer lying there… the little girl it belonged to is dead,” the mayor added, before tears prevented him from speaking further.
