
Dozens of people have been injured after a man deliberately drove a car into crowds at a German carnival parade on Monday.

The driver, a 29-year-old German citizen, mounted the pavement in the town of Volkmarsen, 15 miles west of Kassel, around 2.30pm on Monday before ploughing into families which turned out for the festivities.

Police arrested the driver at the scene. While officers could not disclose a motive for the attack, local media reported that investigators are working on the assumption that it was deliberate.

German police say he is being treated by doctors due to injuries he suffered in the incident, and prosecutors he now faces charges of attempted homicide.

Tonight special police officers were pictured outside the home of the man who drove his car and crashed into a group of revelers. Forensic officers had also set up a cordon around the vehicle.

The rampage injured some 30 people including children, prosecutors said.

'It can be assumed that it was intentional,' police spokesman Henning Hinn told reporters. He added that eight to 10 of those injured were seriously hurt.

'Among those who are seriously injured are children, unfortunately,' he said at the scene, where debris from the carnival littered the ground and a silver Mercedes-Benz car that appeared to have been involved was taped off by police.

The Hessian Ministry of the Interior had said that a terror attack could not be ruled out, but that the motive was unclear because the suspect was not fit for questioning.

Tonight special police officers were seen outside the home of the man who drove his car and crashed into a group of revelers during the Rose Monday carnival parade in Volkmarsen near Kassel

Police tape had been put up in the street and a team of forensic officers was seen examining a car which had been left under a white tent

The officers were seen dressed all in black and entered the property tonight after the suspect injured at least 30 people

Forensic experts investigate next to a silver-colored Mercedes car that crashed into a group of revelers. The men are seen in their white suits examining the evidence

Dozens of people, including children, have been injured after a silver Mercedes (left) drove into crowds celebrating the annual carnival parade in the German town of Volkmarsen on Monday

Police said the car mounted the pavement around 2.30pm and drove into crowds before the driver was arrested, but would not say whether they believe the crash was deliberate or an accident

A destroyed handcart is seen outside a supermarket where the car eventually came to a stop as police pulled the driver out

Witnesses told news site HNA that the car had swerved around safety barriers before driving 'full throttle' into the crowd and appeared to be targeting children.

The car drove about 100ft into the crowd and the driver was still accelerating when police pulled him from the vehicle, public broadcaster Hessenschau reported.

Witnesses told Bild that angry locals surrounded the car as the driver was pulled out, and that police had to protect him as he was arrested.

Dirk Richter, police spokesman in the nearby city of Kassel told Welt TV: 'Everything we have available from the Kassel area is there.'

Video showed a silver Mercedes station wagon with local licence plates and its hazard lights blinking on the pavement, while emergency crews walked by.

The crash occurred on the south side of the town, outside a supermarket.

Witnesses said the car swerved around safety barriers before driving 'full throttle' into the crowd, and appeared to be targeting children (pictured, police at the scene)

The car drove approximately 100ft into the crowd and was still accelerating when police pulled the driver out, local media reports, as officers had to protect the driver from furious crowds

The driver is believed to have lived in the local area and was described as being aged between 20 and 30 (pictured, emergency vehicles at the scene)

Emergency workers and families rush to help the wounded after a car ploughed into crowds celebrating carnival in Germany

All carnival events in the Hesse region were cancelled following the crash, German police announced.

Carnival celebrations take place in Germany every year in the week before Ash Wednesday and the start of Lent.

Carnival is hugely popular in central Europe including parts of western Germany, especially in Rhineland cities such as Cologne and Duesseldorf.

Festivities peak on 'Rose Monday' with tens of thousands attending street parades featuring comical or satirical floats, along with folk music and food.

The incident comes a week after a far-right terrorist shot nine people dead, then killed his mother and himself in the German town of Hanau.

Emergency vehicles at the scene after a car ploughed into a carnival parade injuring several people in Volkmarsen, Germany

Dozens of ambulances, police and fire trucks raced to the scene from the nearby city of Kassel, with officers saying that all available units had been diverted to the town

Ambulances at the scene of Monday's crash. Officials said a number of the wounded were being treated at the scene, but would not give further details