Two dead in car ram in Manheim, Germany

Police says many injured in incident

At least two person have been killed and several others injured when on Monday, March 3, 2025, a car rammed into a crowd in the western German city of Mannheim.

Police spokesperson Stefan Wilhelm said a driver rammed into a group of people in Paradeplatz, a square in a pedestrianized area (or area of less vehicular traffic) of Mannheim.

Authorities confirm that Police arrested the car’s driver and later said he had acted alone, with no broader threat seen for the public.

Thomas Strobl, the state interior minister of Baden-Wurttemberg, where Mannheim is based said the driver is a 40-year-old German from the nearby state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

He further confirmed that two people died and that and several others were seriously injured.

He added that the police are working hard to clarify what happened, the background to the crime and the perpetrator’s motivation.

Paradeplatz, where Monday’s car attack occurred, is a major square in the downtown area, and lies at the end of a pedestriananised street in Mannheim, which has a population of 326,000 and is 85km (53 miles) south of Frankfurt.

German news agency dpa has also reported that Mannheim University Hospital said it was treating three people from the crash, two adults and a child,

It was not immediately clear whether other hospitals received patients.

The incident comes a day after Mannheim held a street parade, the main event in its annual carnival celebrations.

German cities have seen several violent attacks recently, including series of stabbing incidents and car-ramming attacks.

Last month, a man drove a car into a trade union demonstration in the southern city of Munich, killing a two-year-old girl and her mother.

In December a car-ramming attack targeted a Christmas market in the eastern city of Magdeburg, killing six people and wounding hundreds.

Mannheim itself was the scene of a stabbing attack at an anti-Islam rally last May in which a policeman was killed and five others wounded.

Before Monday’s incident in Mannheim, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said that festivities were taking place “with high security precautions”.

A spokesperson for the Minister said she cancelled her visit to the Rose Monday parade in Cologne due to the events in Mannheim.

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