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A car has rammed into crowds in the centre of the German city of Mannheim, killing at least two people and injuring several others after police had warned of terrorist threats at regional carnival festivities.
The driver of a black SUV was arrested according to a police spokesperson, and forces across the city were on alert over concerns that other suspects could be at large. Warnings were issued to the public to stay clear of the city centre.
Witnesses described people lying on the ground at the scene near the central pedestrianised Paradeplatz after the car ploughed into the crowd, heading in the direction of a water tower. Attempts were being made to resuscitate at least two people at the scene. Several news sources reported two dead and 25 injured, though this was not immediately confirmed by officials.
Police said it remained unclear whether the driver had driven his vehicle deliberately into the crowds celebrating carnival ahead of the fasting season of Lent. However, the incident follows a string of violent attacks including two other car rammings, in Munich last month and in Magdeburg in December. Mannheim was the scene of a stabbing in May 2024 in which a police officer was killed and five people wounded.
All those attacks were carried out by migrants, fuelling a heated debate over the country’s immigration policy before Germany’s general election last month. The vote was won by the conservative CDU/CSU alliance, who campaigned on promises to tighten border controls, while the far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative für Deutschland came second with its best ever result.
Germany’s carnival season culminates in Rosenmontag (Rose Monday), with crowds in fancy dress and parades of floats that typically feature comical and satirical displays of events dominating current affairs. Mannheim held its main parade on Sunday.
Security forces had alerted carnival organisers and the public more than a week ago about warnings published on social media accounts connected to the militant group Islamic State, calling for followers to carry out attacks in the carnival strongholds of the Rhineland, to which Mannheim belongs, and areas in the south, both Catholic regions.
Germany’s interior minister, Nancy Faeser, who had been due to attend a popular parade in Cologne on Monday, cancelled her attendance to travel to Mannheim instead, a spokesperson said.
Kasim Timur, 57, who runs a cafe on Paradeplatz, told Spiegel online via telephone: “It breaks one’s heart.” One of his colleagues had reported seeing some of the seriously injured, including children, he said. Another colleague, on her way to work at the cafe, had seen a dark-coloured Ford car racing towards Paradeplatz, he said.
“Initially she thought it was someone who had caused an accident and fled the scene,” he said. “Only later did she understand what had happened.” Timur said the city had not yet got over the stabbing attack of less than a year ago. “Now the horror is back,” he told Spiegel. “That is very scary.”
According to media reports, three people were receiving emergency treatment at Mannheim’s University hospital, including two adults and a child. Eight medical trauma teams were on standby ready to attend adults and children, according to the hospital.
Police urged people not to post videos from the attack, or to spread information that had not been officially confirmed, warning of numerous “false reports” related to the attack that were circulating on social media.
