München: Dozen wounded in car -frame as City is preparing for Security Conference with high effort

Munich, Germany
Cnn
–

A car that was plowed into protesters in Munich on Thursday and wounded at least 28 people in what a local official said was a suspected attack shortly before world leaders were in the southern German city for a high -level security conference.

The suspect is believed to be a 24-year-old asylum seeker from Afghanistan, Munich Police Director Christian Huber, journalists told. Bavarian Governor Markus Söder said the incident “is suspected of being an attack.”

Police will investigate how far the suspect was in his asylum application, spokesman Thomas Schelshorn told CNN. “What motive the perpetrator had to drive into this crowd with a vehicle must now find out,” he said, adding that officers will conduct witness interviews and forensics “to get a picture at the end of it , there could have been in the back of this one. ”

The incident comes during an election campaign that has seen immigration and security raises as key issues after several similar attacks.

Authorities launched a major operation near the city’s central train station, a spokesman said. Police detained the driver and did not consider him a further threat, the force said in a post about X. Children were among the wounded, according to the city’s mayor, Dieter Reiter.

Schelshorn told CNN that some of the injuries are “serious” wounded. “When I talk about seriously wounded people, this also involves people where there is fear if they want to survive,” he reflected.

The man was known by officials in connection with theft and drug offenses, Associated Press reported, citing Bavaria’s State Minister Joachim Herrmann.

On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and US Vice President JD Vance and other top diplomats attend the Munich Safety Conference, approx. 1 mile (1.5 kilometers) from the location of Thursday’s incident.

Local security measures have been strengthened due to the conference, authorities with at least 5,000 police officers said on duty this weekend.

The car hit a group of protesters staging a demonstration linked to a strike arranged by Verdi Union, according to the local TV company BR24. Verdi is the most important union for Germany’s public sector.

The staff were employees of local childcare services, according to the Union, which organized the rally after the negotiations on federal and local public service salaries had stopped. Verdi said it had no further information about the incident.

Eyewitnesses told Reuters that the car, a cream mini -cooper, was seen the tissue between police cars and fetching pace before affecting more people.

“It seemed to me that the car accelerated before it drove into the crowd,” said Alexa Graefe.

One person said the police shot at the car. “I saw that a man was lying under the car,” the eyewitness told the German program BR24. “Then I tried to open the door, but it was locked.”

Eventually, the eyewitness withdrew and turned to the wounded, BR24 reported.

Söder, the Bavarian Governor, described the suspected attack as “simply awful” and added that “something must change in Germany and quickly.”

“We feel the victims and very much hope that everyone will do it,” he told journalists on Thursday. “We all regret what has just happened here.”

The mayor of the Bavarian city said he was shocked by the incident, the German newspaper Bild reported. “The president of the police has informed me that a vehicle was driving into a group of people and many people were injured,” Reiter said. “I’m deeply shaken. My thoughts are with the wounded. ”

Germany has been burned by divisive rhetoric over the country’s immigration policy, in a nation expected to turn right in national elections later this month.

The country’s parliament rejected an opposition draft law that was broken down by immigration policy in January. Days earlier, the opposition Christian Democrats (CDU) was accused of violating an agreement against the cooperation with the right -wing extreme.

The right-wing alternative for Germany (AfD) party has gained momentum after utilizing growing anti-immigration mood among some voters-after a series of deadly attacks allegedly committed by migrants last winter.

Söder said that receiving the news that another perpetrator had plowed into a wealth of people with a vehicle, injured many, felt like a “clap in the face.”

Sebastian Shukla reported from Munich, Sana Noor Haq and Sophie Tanno reported and wrote from London.