Latest news with #ThomasSchelshorn
Al-Ahram Weekly
13-02-2025
- Al-Ahram Weekly
At least 28 hurt after car crashes into crowd in Munich, suspect is Afghan asylum seeker: Police - International
At least 28 people were hurt after a car crashed into a crowd in the German city of Munich on Thursday, police said, a day before the city hosts a high-profile security conference. The incident also came 10 days before Germans head to the polls in a key election on February 23. Earlier fire service spokesman Bernhard Peschke told AFP, "At the moment there are 20 injured, several of them seriously and some of them in a life-threatening condition," . Local media reported that the car, a Mini Cooper, drove into a group of striking workers from the Verdi union and that ambulances had rushed to the scene. An AFP reporter at the scene saw one person wearing a high-visibility jacket on a stretcher being loaded into an ambulance. The Munich police department said on X that "the driver of the vehicle has been detained and does not present a danger". New video shows police pinning down suspect of the car ramming attack in Munich that injured 20, as angry bystanders shout curses Suspect has now been identified by the police as an Afghan national in his mid-20s — RT (@RT_com) February 13, 2025 The driver has been identified as a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker, Munich police spokesman Thomas Schelshorn said. The ground at the scene close to the city's historic centre was littered with items including glasses, shoes, thermal blankets and a pushchair. The police spokesman told reporters at the scene that "the circumstances around the incident and how it happened are still being investigated". An eyewitness who was among the striking workers told the local BR42 website that he "saw a person lying under the car" after it drove into the crowd. He said the police then came and shot at the car window. Other eyewitnesses told the site that a man had been shot at and taken away by police. The driver that drove into the crowd in Munich appears to have acted intentionally, said the head of the regional government. "I must tell you it looks like this was an attack," Bavarian state premier Markus Soeder told reporters. The incident comes a day before the city is due to host the high-profile Munich Security Conference. US Vice-President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are among those expected to attend the two-day security meet. Germany holds parliamentary elections on February 23. Short link:
Yahoo
13-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
At least 20 injured in Munich as car crashes into a group of people
At least 20 people were injured, some of them very seriously, after a car crashed into a crowd of people on Stiglmaierplatz in the city centre before 11 am (1000 GMT) on Thursday, according to a Munich fire brigade spokesman. The driver was promptly detained by officers, Munich police said in a post on X. "There is no further danger from him at the moment," Munich police spokesman Thomas Schelshorn said. "We have no reason to believe that there is any danger to the public." He added that it remains initially unclear whether the crash was an accident or may have been deliberately driven into the crowd. Some of the injured have life-threatening injuries, according to the fire brigade spokesman. 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." A demonstration by the verdi trade union was taking place at the scene of the incident, on Munich's Stiglmaierplatz, at around 10:30 am (0930 GMT), according to police reports. It was initially unclear whether demonstrators were among the injured. Several ambulances were also parked a few streets away from Stiglmaierplatz. Schelshorn, the police spokesman, said that authorities are "currently on the scene with strong forces." The fire brigade said that authorities activated a broad emergency response to the incident, calling in civil defence volunteers in addition to police and emergency services to help respond to the incident. Munich is currently preparing for tight security with the Munich Security Conference (MSC), a major gathering of foreign policy experts and global leaders, set to open on Friday. The conference is hosted at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof, located about 1.6 kilometres away from Stiglmaierplatz in the Munich city centre. US Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky are among the many senior world leaders expected to attend the MSC.
NBC News
13-02-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
20 injured as car driven into pedestrians in Munich ahead of conference attended by Vance, Rubio
MUNICH, Germany— German police said Thursday that a car had driven into a crowd of people in the city of Munich, injuring at least 20 people. The incident came the day before a major security conference attended by world leaders was set to begin. The car struck pedestrians in the city center on or near Dachauer Straße and Seidlstraße and confirmed a "major police operation," police said, adding that the driver of the car had been "secured" by police and poses no further threat. Munich Fire Service spokesperson Bernhard Peschke said at least 20 people had been injured. It is not clear whether the collision was intentional or accidental and the status of the injured people is not known. A large presence of police and firefighters was at the scene and police have warned the public to avoid the area. Police spokesman Thomas Schelshorn told NBC News at the scene that the motive remains unclear, but confirmed that a trade union demonstration had been taking place nearby. The Munich Security Conference, which is an annual meeting of politicians and defense officials from across the world, is set to get underway on Friday amid a large police presence and tight security protocol. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are expected to attend, and are slated to meet with U.S. partners in order to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine while at the summit. At noon local time (6 a.m. ET) Bavarian interior minister Joachim Herrmann and Munich Mayor Dieter Reiter are expected to speak at the site.
