Car ploughs into a German carnival parade leaving dozens – including children – injured: Driver is arrested and taken away by police as crowd try to attack him
- Silver Mercedes drove into crowds celebrating carnival in Volkmarsen, Germany, around 2.30pm Monday
- Dozens of people were left injured, including children, after the car drove into the crowd ‘at full throttle’
- Police said the driver was arrested at the scene but would not say if they believe the incident was deliberate
- Witnesses said the vehicle swerved around safety barriers and appeared to be deliberately targeting children
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Dozens of people have been injured after a car drove into crowds at a German carnival celebration on Monday.
A silver Mercedes mounted the pavement in the town of Volkmarsen, 15 miles west of Kassel, around 2.30pm on Monday before ploughing into families that had packed the streets for the festivities.
Witnesses told news site HNA that the car had swerved around safety barriers before driving ‘full throttle’ into the crowd and appeared to be targeting children.
Police said the car’s driver was arrested at the scene, but would not say whether they believe the incident was an accident or deliberate.
Dozens of people, including children, have been injured after a silver Mercedes (left) drove into crowds celebrating the annual carnival parade in the German town of Volkmarsen on Monday
Police said the car mounted the pavement around 2.30pm and drove into crowds before the driver was arrested, but would not say whether they believe the crash was deliberate or an accident
Witnesses said the car swerved around safety barriers before driving ‘full throttle’ into the crowd, and appeared to be targeting children (pictured, police at the scene)
The car drove about 100ft into the crowd and the driver was still accelerating when police pulled him from the vehicle, public broadcaster Hessenschau reported.
Witnesses told Bild that angry locals surrounded the car as the driver was pulled out, and that police had to protect him, as he was arrested.
Dirk Richter, police spokesman in the nearby city of Kassel told Welt TV: ‘Everything we have available from the Kassel area is there.’
Video showed a silver Mercedes station wagon with local licence plates and its hazard lights blinking on the pavement, while emergency crews walked by.
Carnival is hugely popular in parts of western Germany, especially in Rhineland cities such as Cologne and Duesseldorf.
Festivities peak on ‘Rose Monday’ with tens of thousands attending street parades featuring comical or satirical floats.
Carnival celebrations take place in Germany every year in the week before Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent.
The incident comes a week after a far-right terrorist shot nine people dead, then killed his mother and himself in the German town of Hanau.
Dozens of ambulances, police and fire trucks raced to the scene from the nearby city of Kassel, with officers saying that all available units had been diverted to the town
Ambulances at the scene of Monday’s crash. Officials said a number of the wounded were being treated at the scene, but would not give further details
Volkmarsen is a small town of around 6,800 residents located in central Germany, around 15 miles from Kassel. Hundreds of people were said to be at Monday’s parade
More to follow…