At least four people are dead, including a baby girl, and up to 15 others injured after a car drove into pedestrians in the German city of Trier today in what police say was a deliberate attack.
A 51-year-old German man was arrested on Tuesday afternoon after the car drove more than half a mile through the city's main pedestrian area, which usually hosts a popular Christmas market.
Trier mayor Wolfram Leibe told regional broadcaster SWR that the driver had gone on 'a rampage' that had killed several people, but the motive for the attack was not yet clear.
While authorities have not described it as a terror act, and security sources said they had no evidence of a 'political backdrop' to the attack, the incident has brought back memories of the 2016 Christmas market rampage in Berlin in which 12 people were killed.
Describing today's attack, a witness told local paper Trierische Volksfreund that a dark grey Range Rover had driven at high speed into pedestrians, sending some people 'flying into the air'.
His voice breaking with emotion, the mayor said a young girl was among the dead, saying he had seen one of her discarded shoes at the scene - while another witness described seeing a child's pram flung off the ground.
Leibe said some of the injured people were seriously hurt and in hospital, saying he was hoping for their survival, but German media says the death toll has already risen from two to four.
The car was stopped near the Porta Nigra, an old Roman gate, and the driver arrested at the scene - with footage showing him being pinned to the ground next to his damaged vehicle.
Police spokesman Karl-Peter Jochem said the driver had 'indiscriminately' run people down after turning into the pedestrian area.
The suspect, who lives locally, was being questioned in custody on Monday evening but authorities would not be drawn on a possible motive.
One witness who watched the 'rampage' from a shop on the pedestrian street described seeing a children's buggy being flung into the air, saying people had run indoors in panic.
The numbers of dead and injured were still becoming clear on Monday evening, but the death toll was already higher than the two that was first announced.
In addition to the injured people, there were many other 'traumatised' pedestrians who were in shock after witnessing what had happened, the mayor said.
'We often see pictures like this on television and think that can't happen here. Now it's happened in Trier,' the mayor told reporters near the Porta Nigra.
Police said there was no further danger to Trier residents after the driver's arrest, suggesting that he had acted alone. He was arrested four minutes after the first emergency call, authorities said. .
Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman called today's news 'shocking' and said the government's thoughts were with the injured people and relatives of victims.
Regional premier Malu Dreyer, who arrived at the scene on Tuesday evening, said she was deeply shaken by the events in the historic city which she described as her home town.
After the driver's arrest, officers warned people to avoid the scene, and said they were on the scene alongside ambulance crews while helicopters were also hovering over the city.
Footage showed police vans and other emergency vehicles parked on a wide shopping street in Trier, a large section of which appeared to have been cleared.
Shoppers were seen huddling outside stores festooned with Christmas decorations, while sirens could be heard in the distance. Emergency services from nearby Luxembourg were also said to be on the scene.
While Trier is usually home to one of Germany's most popular Christmas markets, the event was cancelled this year because of the pandemic.
While bars and restaurants have closed under a so-called 'lockdown light' to bring down infections, shops and schools have remained open, unlike during the spring.
The incident brought back memories of the 2016 truck rampage at a Berlin Christmas market that left 12 people dead.
The driver on that occasion, a failed Tunisian asylum seeker, was a supporter of the Islamic State jihadist group.
In August 2019, six people were injured in a series of motorway accidents in Berlin in what prosecutors described as a suspected Islamist attack.
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