Munich Car Horror Is ‘A Suspected Attack’, Officials Say

At least 28 people have been left injured in Munich following a suspected attack which saw a man ram a Mini Cooper thorough a crowd of 1,000 strikers.

The driver, a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker, according to police, is believed to have accelerated into demonstrators. Bild has reported that that the suspect’s name is Farhad N., born in Kabul in 2001.

According to Swiss publication Blick, he was already known to local police for drugs and theft, and drove at around 30mph into the crowd.

At least 28 people were injured in thesmash, and it is understood that a mother pushing her child in a pram was among those wounded. The child’s life is said to be in danger, according to local reports.

Bavarian governor Markus Söder said that ‘it is suspected to be an attack.’ It comes just weeks after a car drove into a group of people at a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg, leaving at least six dead and nearly 70 injured.

‘We have to change something – and quickly,’ Söder added, referring to Germany’s migration crisis which he and other politicians are pushing to tighten.

The incident comes as world defence leaders including US Vice-President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky gather in the Bavarian city for a major security conference.Footage from the scene captured the moment the driver was arrested, as cops swarmed the vehicle and pinned him to the ground. Munich police have also confirmed they shot at the vehicle but it is unknown at this stage whether this caused any injuries.

Munich Police took to social media to reassure that the driver was secured on site and ‘currently poses no further danger’.A report by Spiegel stated the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees rejected the suspect’s asylum application at the end of 2016. The Afghan was later granted a temporary residence permit, which meant that his deportation was suspended. The alleged perpetrator was last registered at an address in the Munich district of Obersendling. According to Spiegel, he is said to have ‘posted suspected Islamist posts’ before the crime.A police spokesman, explained a police car was travelling at the rear of the Verdi trade union rally before ‘a vehicle approached and came up behind the police vehicle. It then moved to overtake, accelerated and reached the end of the rally.

‘[Police] colleagues caught the attacker. One shot was fired at the vehicle. The attacker was arrested. We currently estimate that we have at least 28 people injured, some seriously.

‘The exact number has not yet been determined. As regards the attacker, what we can say is that he is a 24-year-old Afghan, with asylum seeker status.’

Horror videos circulating online also saw several wounded victims lying in the streets being treated for injuries after the white car crashed through the Dachauer Straße area this morning.

Eyewitnesses told German newspaper Bild that two men were in the Mini and shots were fired before the driver was detained. There is currently a major police operation in the area, local police have stated on X/Twitter.

On social media, one witness, a German journalist, said the incident left people ‘crying and shaking’ on the ground.

‘A person was lying on the street and a young man was taken away by the police,’ Sandra Demmelhuber said.

‘People were sitting on the ground, crying and shaking. Details still unclear,’ the reporter added.

Ambulances are currently on site as they attempt to aid victims who were hit and police are working on confirming whether the driver had acted deliberately when driving into the rally.

‘Police investigations must now clarify whether he drove into the crowd intentionally or confused the accelerator and brake,’ Bild reported.

A demonstrator told Bayerischer Rundfunk: ‘I was in the demonstration and saw that a man was lying under the car. Then I tried to open the door, but it was locked’.

‘Eventually the police came and shot at the car window, so he retreated and took care of the injured’.

Munich’s mayor Dieter Reiter told Bild: ‘The police chief has just informed me that a vehicle drove into a group of people and unfortunately many people were injured, including children. I am deeply shocked.

‘My thoughts are with the injured.’

In images circulating online, the Mini Cooper can be seen with a smashed windshield and crushed bonnet as police gather around to assess the damage.

On Thursday, several city employees stopped their work to demonstrate in a protest demanding an eight per cent increase, higher bonuses, and three additional days off.

The Verdi Union had called for the demonstration.

The Munich Verdi managing director Claudia Weber, 58, who was waiting for the demonstration at Königsplatz, told Bild: ‘It’s all so unbelievable. We are totally shocked and are incredibly afraid for our colleagues who were part of the demonstration.

‘We heard that the car drove straight into the demonstration on purpose. Hopefully there will be no deaths.’

In an update on social media, Munich Police have urged locals to avoid the area so that investigations can continue smoothly.

‘There will be traffic disruptions around the scene of the incident. Please avoid the area so that the emergency services can work unhindered,’ it said in a post to X/Twitter.

Cops have also stated they have set up a witness collection point in the Löwenbräukeller on Stiglmaierplatz.

The smash comes on the same day as an Afghan man with suspected Islamist sympathies went on trial in Germany on charges of murder and attempted murder after a stabbing attack targeting a political rally in the western city of Mannheim.

The trial takes place at a time of heightened debate in Germany around asylum rules and security before a national election on February 23.

The centre-right and far-right have vowed tough action on migrant crime, following several violent attacks in recent months.

The defendant, identified by prosecutors as Sulaiman A., is accused of stabbing and seriously injuring six people, including a 29-year-old policeman who died of his injuries, during the attack on an anti-Islam demonstration in late May 2024.

He covered his face with a folder during his appearance at the higher regional court in Stuttgart, the state capital of Baden-Wuerttemberg, where Mannheim is located.

The suspect was taken into pre-trial custody on June 18 after leaving intensive care for injuries he sustained in the attack.

And just weeks ago, a car drove into a group of people at a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg, leaving at least two dead and nearly 70 injured.

The driver of the car, reported to be a dark BMW, was arrested following the crash.

Bild reported that the car was driven ‘at least 400m (1,300ft) across the Christmas market’, per a police spokesperson.