‘This was an attack’: Dozens injured as car rams Munich crowd

At least 28 people have been injured – some seriously – after a car drove through a crowd of people in Munich, a day before JD Vance and Volodymyr Zelensky attend a conference in the city.

An Afghan asylum seeker has been arrested after a suspected car ramming attack injured at least 28 people in the southern German city of Munich, police said.

The incident comes on the eve of a high-profile international conference in Munich, which will be attended by US Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President and amid an election campaign in which immigration and security have been key issues after a spate of similar attacks.

A police officer works at the scene where a car drove into a crowd in the southern German city of Munich. Picture: AFP

Police and emergency services operate near a damaged car that apparently drove into demonstrators marching in the city centre. Picture: Getty Images

The driver of the vehicle has been detained by police. Picture: Getty Images

A passenger car drove into a street demonstration of striking workers from the Verdi trade union near the city centre and was then shot at by officers, said the deputy head of Munich police Christian Huber.

The driver, a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker, was arrested at the scene, Huber said.

Earlier a fire service spokesman told AFP that several of those hurt were “seriously injured, some of them in a life-threatening condition”.

Police work at the scene where a car drove into a crowd in the German city of Munich. Picture: AFP

The state premier of Bavaria Markus Soeder told a press conference that the incident was “just terrible” and that “it looks like this was an attack”.

Soeder’s Bavarian CSU party and its national sister party the CDU have demanded tougher curbs on migration after a series of similar attacks which have shocked the country.

“This is not the first incident … we must show determination that something will change in Germany,” Soeder said. “This is further proof that we can’t keep going from attack to attack.”

The ground at the scene of the incident was littered with items including glasses, shoes, thermal blankets and a pushchair.

Eyewitness Alexa Graef said she was “shocked” after seeing the car drive into the crowd “which looked deliberate”.

At least 20 people are injured, some seriously. Picture: AFP

“I hope it’s the last time I see anything like that,” she said. An eyewitness who was among the striking workers told the local BR42 website that he “saw a person lying under the car” after it drove into the crowd.

The president of the Verdi union Frank Werneke said in a statement: “We are deeply upset and shocked at the awful incident during a peaceful demonstration by our Verdi colleagues.” The incident comes a day before the city is due to host the high-profile Munich Security Conference.

Mr Vance and Mr Zelensky are among those arriving on Thursday to attend the two-day security meet.

Police and emergency services operate after a car apparently drove into demonstrators marching in the city centre. Picture: Getty Images

The latest suspected attack comes amid an already inflamed debate on immigration after several similar incidents, most recently in the Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg last month.

Two people were killed in a knife attack including a two-year-old child. After that attack a 28-year-old Afghan man was arrested whom authorities say has a history of mental illness.

In December, six people were killed after a car ploughed into a Christmas market in the eastern city of Magdeburg, also wounding hundreds.

A Saudi man was arrested after that attack, with Interior Minister Nancy Faeser saying he also appeared to be mentally disturbed.

– with AFP

Originally published as ‘This was an attack’: Dozens injured as car rams Munich crowd