Three dead as van rams diners in German city
THREE people were killed and 20 injured when a van ploughed into diners outside a restaurant in the German city of Münster yesterday.
Police said the driver, named locally as 48-year-old German national Jens Handeln, shot himself dead after ramming the crowd, but they could not immediately determine his motive.
According to a report by the Süddeutsche Zeitung newspaper, Handeln had a history of mental health issues, and officers were last night searching his home for explosives.
The newspaper said he had no terrorist background and was “psychologically disturbed”. Police refused to confirm or deny the report.
Officers did confirm that a suspicious object was discovered in the van after the driver killed himself.
Witnesses reported seeing two other men fleeing the van, but police said they had investigated and were no longer looking for other suspects. Andreas Bode, a police spokesman at the scene, said: “The suspect killed himself in the vehicle. It’s far too early to speak of a [terrorist] attack right now.
“There was possibly a suspicious object in the vehicle, but the investigation is ongoing into what kind of object it is.”
He said six of the 20 injured were in a severe condition in hospital.
The incident came one year to the day after a terrorist truck attack in Stockholm, Sweden, which killed five people.
It also evoked memories of another vehicle attack in Berlin on Dec 19, 2016. On that occasion Anis Amri, a failed Tunisian asylum seeker with Islamist links, hijacked a truck and killed the driver before ploughing into a crowded marketplace and killing 11 more people.
Lino Baldi, who owns an Italian restaurant in Münster, near the scene, said the area was packed for a Saturday market.
It was the hottest day of
the year so far and temperatures rising to 77F (25C) had also helped to draw a large crowd in the centre of the city, which has a population of 300,000.
The restaurant was near the Kiepenkerl statue, a local landmark which is a figure of a travelling peddler.
A witness told Germany’s NTV: “There was a bang and then screaming. The police arrived and got everyone out of here. There were a lot of people screaming. I’m angry, it’s cowardly to do something like this.”
German television station ZDF reported that the driver had recently attempted suicide.
But Peter Nuessmeyer, a police spokesman, said he could not confirm German media reports that the perpetrator was a middle-aged German man with psychological issues.
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the German president, said: “This was a serious act of violence. My deep sympathy
‘Let’s not jump to conclusions, but this doesn’t sound like a simple accident to me’
goes to all those who have lost a loved one.”
Ulrike Demmer, a spokeswoman for Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, said: “Terrible news coming out of Münster. Our thoughts are with the victims and their families.”
Katarina Barley, the German justice minister, added: “We must do everything to clarify the background of the incident.”
Markus Lewe, the city’s mayor, said: “All of Münster is mourning this horrible incident. Our sympathy is with the relatives of those who were killed.”
Interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Herbert Reul, said of the suspect: “There is nothing saying at the moment that there was any Islamist background, but it must be waited on. It will be investigated from all sides.”
There was already a heightened police presence in the area before the incident as officers watched over a pro-Kurdish demonstration.
Donald Trump Jr, the US president’s son, wrote on Twitter: “Let’s not jump to conclusions, but this doesn’t sound like a simple accident to me.”