At least one person was killed and several injured on Monday as a car drove into a pedestrian zone in the western city of Mannheim.
Police said a suspect was in custody, adding that it was unclear if others had been involved.
Several cities across Germany are holding parades on Monday to mark the carnival season. Mannheim’s main parade took place on Sunday.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser canceled her participation in a carnival parade in Cologne and was being briefed on the incident, a ministry spokesperson said.
“The rescue of human lives, care of the injured and the initial investigations by the authorities in Mannheim are now the priority,” the spokesperson added.
The incident took place at Paradeplatz, a major square in the downtown area, at around noon.
A black SUV drove at high speed into a crowd close to where a carnival market was hel, according to the Mannheim24 news website.
The driver was allegedly a 40-year-old German man, dpa news agency reported, citing state Interior Minister Thomas Strobl.
Authorities sent an alert on the Katwarn app to tell the public in Mannheim to avoid the city center. The app is used by officials to communicate information about major emergencies.
The Mannheim University Hospital said it implemented an emergency plan in case of a possible mass casualty incident, according to the dpa news agency.
Authorities have not labelled the incident as an attack.
In recent months, two major attacks involved vehicles hitting crowds in German cities.
Monday’s incident comes just weeks after two people were killed in a car ramming in Munich. Prosecutors said the suspect, who was identified as an Afghan who sought asylum in Germany, seemed to have an Islamist motive.
In December, a car drove into a Christmas market in the eastern city of Magdeburg, killing six people and injuring 200. The suspect was a Saudi doctor who had expressed anti-Muslim views and support for the far-right Alternative For Germany (AfD) party. – DW.
