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Baby among four killed as car runs down shoppers in German city of Trier

A baby was among four people killed and 15 injured when a car tore through a pedestrian shopping street in the southwestern German city of Trier on Tuesday, police said, after arresting the driver.

Baby among four killed as car runs down shoppers in German city of Trier
Police near the scene of the incident on Tuesday afternoon. Photo: DPA

Prosecutor Peter Fritzen said the driver, a 51-year-old Trier native, appeared to be suffering from “psychiatric problems” and had been under the influence of alcohol whilst at the wheel of his silver SUV.

Police, who have been questioning the suspect, said they had “no indications of a political motive”.

Prosecutors are considering requesting that the suspect be placed in psychiatric care, Fritzen told reporters.

At the same press conference, Trier mayor Wolfram Leibe said among the dead
were a nine-month-old baby and a 73-year-old woman.

READ ALSO: Two killed as car hits shoppers in German city of Trier

“I think this is Trier's darkest day since World War II,” he said.

Also killed were a 25-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man. Fifteen people
were injured, several seriously.

Malu Dreyer, premier of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate where Trier is located, expressed shock that a baby was among those killed by the driver's “insane act” and shared her condolences with all the affected families.

The baby's mother was being treated in hospital for injuries sustained in the rampage.

Witnesses had earlier described seeing people, including a young child in a stroller, being flung into the air as the car struck them.

'Traumatised'

The incident started around 1:50 pm and ended within four minutes of the first emergency calls arriving, with police intercepting the driver after he turned right off a main shopping street.

Police said he had ploughed through the streets for about a kilometre, leaving behind a trail of destruction.

Officers sealed off the area and cleared people from the city centre.

Smartphone footage from an eyewitness showed the arrest of the driver, who was seen lying face down on the street pinned down by several officers next to the damaged SUV.

He was the sole occupant of the vehicle.

An unnamed man who said he was a former neighbour of the suspect told NTV that the driver had a history of mental issues, as well as money worries and problems “with his father”.

Christmas shopping

Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced her “great sadness” at the events in Trier and said her thoughts were with the relatives of those who were “so suddenly and violently ripped from their lives” and with the injured, in a message shared by her spokesman.

Early footage from the scene showed stunned shoppers huddling outside stores festooned with Christmas decorations as sirens blared in the distance.

Debris from stalls and outdoor displays was strewn along the cobbled street.

Picturesque Trier, near the border with Luxembourg, traces its history back to the Roman Empire and is often called Germany's oldest city.

Although Germany is grappling with a second coronavirus wave that has forced restaurants, bars, sports and cultural centres to close, retailers have been allowed to stay open and many people were out Christmas shopping.

“It's lucky that the Christmas market has been cancelled because of corona, or it could have been much worse,” witness Frederic Fries told Welt TV.

The incident brought back memories of a truck rampage at a Berlin Christmas market that left 12 people dead in 2016, Germany's deadliest Islamist attack to date.

In January 2019, a German man injured eight people when he drove into crowds on New Year's Eve in the western cities of Bottrop and Essen. He was later taken into psychiatric care.

In April 2018, a German man ploughed his van into people seated outside a restaurant in the city of Münster, killing five before shooting himself dead. Investigators later said he had mental health problems.

READ ALSO: Ramming attack in Münster: What we know

 

Member comments

  1. I wonder why most of the driving incident culprits are labeled as mentally sick? Even though it is reported that the person had a history of such acts, why does he still have a driving license in his conditions.
    I am not sure the authorities being sorry is enough for the mother who lost her kid.

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BUSINESS

Elon Musk visits Tesla’s sabotage-hit German factory

Elon Musk travelled Wednesday to Tesla's factory near Berlin to lend his workers "support" after the plant was forced to halt production by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines.

Elon Musk visits Tesla's sabotage-hit German factory

The Tesla CEO addressed thousands of employees on arrival at the site, accusing “eco-terrorists” of the sabotage as he defended his company’s green credentials.

With his son X AE A-XII in his arms, Musk said: “I am here to support you.”

The billionaire’s visit came a week after power lines supplying the electric carmaker’s only European plant were set on fire in an act of sabotage claimed by a far-left group called the Vulkangruppe (Volcano Group).

READ ALSO: Far-left group claims ‘sabotage’ on Tesla’s German factory

Musk had said then that the attack was “extremely dumb”, while the company said it would cost it several hundred million euros.

A week on, the lights have come back on at the site, but Andre Thierig, who heads the site, said on LinkedIn that it would “take a bit of time” before production is back to full speed.

Industry experts have warned that the reputational impact caused by the sabotage on the region could be more severe than the losses suffered by Tesla.

Tesla’s German plant started production in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares and boost production up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe’s growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the plans have annoyed local residents, who voted against the project in a non-binding ballot last month.

After the vote, Tesla said it might have to rethink the plans. Environmental activists opposed to the expansion of the factory have recently also set up a camp in a wooded area near the plant.

READ ALSO: Why is Tesla’s expansion near Berlin so controversial?

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