Two dead after car drives into crowd in German city of Mannheim

A car driven into a crowd in southwest Germany on Monday killed two people, authorities said, adding they had arrested a 40-year-old German man after the incident.

"Two people died from their injuries and several others are seriously injured," Baden-Wuerttemberg state's Interior Minister Thomas Strobl said in a statement.

It is unclear whether there are other suspects, the spokesperson added. 

The incident occurred as crowds gathered in cities across western Germany's Rhineland for parades to mark the carnival season.

A black SUV drove at high speed into a group of people, traveling from the centrally located Paradeplatz square towards the city's landmark water tower, local media reported.

Security has been a key concern in Germany following a string of violent attacks in recent weeks, including deadly car rammings in Magdeburg in December and in Munich last month, as well as a stabbing in Mannheim in May 2024.

Police are on high alert for this year's carnival parades after social media accounts connected to the Islamic State militant group called for attacks on the events in Cologne and Nuremberg.