Car ploughs into German carnival

Car ploughs into German carnival

Some 30 people including children were injured on Monday when a car ploughed into a carnival procession in the small German town of Volkmarsen, with police arresting the driver but declining to speculate on a motive.



Prosecutors in Frankfurt said the 29-year-old suspect was a German national who faces charges of attempted homicide over the incident in the western state of Hesse.



The investigation was continuing "in all directions", they said in a statement, after police stopped short of calling the incident an attack.



The drama came as Germany remains on high alert following a shooting spree by a far-right gunman in the city of Hanau, also in Hesse, last Wednesday, that killed 10 people.



Eyewitness reports at the carnival parade described the driver ploughing through a barrier in a silver car and driving straight through the crowd at high speed.



"It appears to have been an intentional act," a local police spokesman told reporters, but said the incident was not being classified as an attack until investigators had more information.



Around 30 people were injured, some of them seriously, the Frankfurt prosecutors said. Children were among those hurt.



The driver was injured as well and receiving medical care, prosecutors added.



Citing sources close to the investigation, Spiegel weekly said the driver had apparently "consumed a high level of alcohol".



Hesse state premier Volker Bouffier said he was "shocked at the terrible act" and urged the public not to jump to conclusions. (AFP)