Two people were killed and up to 15 injured on Tuesday when they were hit by a car in a pedestrian area of the western German city of Trier, the city’s mayor said, according to public broadcaster SWR.
Police said several people had been killed, having earlier put the death toll at two.
“We have arrested one person, one vehicle has been secured. Two people have died, according to preliminary indications. Please continue to avoid the downtown area,” police said on Twitter.
Mayor Wolfram Leibe had rushed to the scene.
“We have an amok driver in the city. We have two dead that we are certain of and up to 15 injured, some of them with the most severe injuries,” he told SWR.
“We are just trying to get an overview. We have ambulances from all over the region helping here. Our first task now is to make people safe.”
There was no immediate indication of the possible motive.
The Trierischer Volksfreund local newspaper quoted an eyewitness as saying a dark grey Range Rover was driving at high speed and people had been thrown through the air.
It said the city centre had been cordoned off and helicopters were circling overhead.
Parents were asked to pick up their children from school, the newspaper added.
Municipal authorities warned people to stay away from the city centre. The fire brigade, rescue services and police were at the scene.
REUTERS