Scholz promises tough response after 'terrible attack' in Munich
FURTH: Germany Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged a tough response in the wake of a suspected vehicle attack in Munich on Thursday morning, in which a man drove his car into a trade union rally. The driver has been identified by Munich authorities as a 24-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker.
Scholz also expressed his deep sorrow, expressed his thoughts for those injured and their families and spoke of a "terrible attack."
"This perpetrator cannot count on any leniency. He must be punished and he must leave the country," Scholz said just hours after the attack while at a political campaign event in the Bavarian city of Fürth.
"It must be very clear that the judiciary will take tough action against this perpetrator with all the means at its disposal," said Scholz. "Anyone who commits crimes in Germany will not only be severely punished and sent to prison, but must also expect that they will not be able to continue their stay in Germany."
Scholz stressed that must also be true for people from countries to which deportations are difficult, such as Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, a car that drove into a trade union demonstration in Munich on Thursday morning is being treated as a "suspected attack," according to Bavarian state Premier Markus Söder.
The suspected driver has been identified as a 24-year-old Afghan citizen who had applied for asylum in Germany, according to Munich police.
At least 28 people were injured as the car sped just before 11 am into the rear of the demonstration, which had been organised by the verdi trade union, police said. Some of those hit by the car suffered severe, life-threatening injuries.
Police officers at the scene fired one shot at the driver, a Munich police official said at a midday press conference with Söder.
The driver was then promptly detained by police.
"There is no further danger from him at the moment," Munich police spokesman Thomas Schelshorn said on Thursday morning. "We have no reason to believe that there is any danger to the public."
The 24-year-old asylum-seeker from Afghanistan had previously attracted attention from German police for shoplifting and violations of the Narcotics Act, according to Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann.
According to police, the man drove his car past a police vehicle that was guarding the rear of the trade union march in central Munich, between Stiglmaierplatz and the Central Train Station.
Hermann credited police officers who were accompanying the march with reacting quickly to prevent further possible injuries. Based on reports from police officers accompanying the rally, as well as other witnesses, "we must assume that it was not an accident, but that he acted deliberately," Hermann said.
Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter said he had been informed that children are among those injured. "I am deeply shocked," Reiter said. "My thoughts are with the injured." — dpa
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