Driver strikes crowd, killing 2

BERLIN — A gray van crashed into tables of people drinking outside a popular bar Saturday in the German city of Muenster, killing two people and injuring 20 others before the driver of the vehicle killed himself, police said.

A top security official said there was no indication of an Islamic extremist motive, but officials were investigating all possibilities in the crash that took place at the Kiepenkerl pub on a warm spring afternoon.

Witnesses said people ran away screaming from the city square after the crash. Police quickly cordoned off a large area for their investigation and ambulances rushed to the site.

Herbert Reul, the interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia state, where Muenster is located, said the driver of the van was a German citizen. He stressed that the investigation was at an early stage but said “at the moment, nothing speaks for there being any Islamist background.”

Reul said two people were killed in the crash and the driver fatally shot himself.

Police spokesman Peter Nuessmeyer said he could not confirm German media reports that the perpetrator had psychological problems.

Another spokesman, Andreas Bode, said police were checking witness reports that other perpetrators might have fled from the van at the scene. Hours later, police spokeswoman Vanessa Arlt said that “we didn’t find anything (to those reports) but we’re still investigating in all directions and not excluding anything.”