Police in a statement warned of „traffic disruptions in the city center.“
At least two people were killed and several others were injured when a car drove into a crowd in Mannheim, Germany, on Monday, during an annual carnival celebration, police said.
„A 40-year-old suspect drove a car into a group of people who were in the Planken area of Mannheim city center“, the police statement said. „Two people were killed and five seriously injured.“
A search of the area was immediately launched and a suspect was identified and arrested, according to the police statement.
Police said that all bridges and main roads were initially blocked off and authorities asked the public to stay away from the city center. Several hours later, police reopened the area after issuing an all-clear.
Video footage from Paradeplatz Square in the center of Mannheim showed shoppers standing outside an area cordoned off by police tape and strewn with debris, including a shoe. First responders could be seen tending to at least one injured person.
Mannheim has a population of 326,000 and is about 52 miles south of Frankfurt.
In addition to the two people killed, 10 people were injured, five seriously, Mannheim police said in a statement.
The incident unfolded around 12:15 p.m. local time in the Planken shopping district area near Paradeplatz Square, according to police.
Police have not said if the driver under arrest deliberately plowed into the crowd or whether it was accidental. The driver, whose name was not immediately released, is a German citizen from Rhineland-Palatinate, about 90 miles from Mannheim.
The incident occurred as people were gathering in central Mannheim for an annual German carnival celebration.
Witness Manu Brioso that he was taking a class in a building in the Paradeplatz area when he saw the car involved in the incident pass by on the street before it struck a crowd of people.
„The school told us what had happened and that we couldn’t leave the school because police had cordoned off the area“, Brioso said.
When he was allowed to leave, Brioso said the street was full of police, firefighters and ambulances.
