Suspected Munich car attack: What we know
2025-02-14
Category: news

A 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker drove a car into a crowd of people in the German city of Munich on Thursday, injuring at least 28 people, police have said.Officers said they were treating the incident as a suspected attack and the suspect, who has been arrested, was known to police for theft and drug offences.Here's what we know about the attack so far. 
What happened? 
Munich police said the car, a Mini Cooper, accelerated and ploughed into the back of a rally by the Verdi trade union at about 10:30 local time during a strike by public sector workers. Employees of day-care centres, hospitals, sanitation facilities and public swimming pools had joined the strike, calling for higher pay and longer holidays. More than 1,000 people were reportedly at the scene.A major response operation was launched in the Dachauer Strasse area and one shot was fired at the vehicle by police before the driver was detained at the scene. It is unclear whether the suspect was injured.A police spokesman told local broadcaster BR that police are checking whether there was a link between the demonstration and the incident.The crash happened hours before the US vice president and Ukrainian president were due to arrive in the city for the Munich Security Conference - but police say they don't believe it's related.
How many were injured? 
At least 28 people have been injured, including two seriously, German police said on Thursday. The local fire service said some of those hurt were in a "life-threatening condition".Munich's mayor Dieter Reiter said children were among those injured.According to local outlet BR24, injured people are being treated at multiple hospitals around Munich, including a children's hospital and the Munich Red Cross Clinic.Some of the injured include employees of the Munich city administration, Munich's deputy mayor Dominik Krause told the outlet. Several participants at the trade union rally had brought their children with them, "which makes the act even more heinous", Krause said. 
Who is the suspect? 
The suspect is a 24-year-old asylum seeker from Afghanistan, German police said, adding that his motive was unclear."It was probably an attack," Bavaria state premier Markus Söder told reporters. Bavarian interior minister Joachim Herrmann said the suspect had been known to police for drug and shoplifting offences.According to the the German Press Agency, the suspect came to Germany in 2016 as a minor but had his asylum application rejected in 2017 and has been required to leave the country since autumn 2020. 
What have witnesses said? 
The BBC's Daniel Wittenberg, reporting from Munich, said there was a pram strewn across the floor at the scene, as well as half a dozen umbrellas and high-vis jackets.A severely damaged white Mini Cooper could be seen at a pedestrian crossing in the middle of three lanes of traffic which had been cordoned off by police.A woman working at an orthopaedic shop on the road where the incident took place told the BBC that half a dozen people came running into the shop. "They looked panicked, and some people were crying," she said. Pedestrians reportedly sprinted for cover in shops and residential buildings that line either side of the thoroughfare.One student, who didn't wanted to give her name, said the driver of the Mini Cooper accelerated before hitting the crowd. "It was fast enough to pull 10 to 15 people to the ground," another witness said. 
What have authorities said?
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the suspect "must be punished" and "must leave the country". "This perpetrator cannot hope for any leniency," he told reporters, in a translation from Reuters news agency."If it was an attack, we must take consistent action against possible perpetrators with all means of justice." Bavaria state premier Markus Söder said authorities were working to "clarify all the details"."This is not the first case and who knows what else will happen," he added. "It is now even more important that, in addition to the processing of individual cases, in addition to the concern that we all feel, in addition to the sympathy and in addition to the great hope that many will recover, we also show the determination that something must change in Germany."