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3 Dead in Münster, Germany, After Driver of a Small Truck Crashes Into Crowd 2 Dead in Münster, Germany, After Truck Driver Crashes Into Crowd
(about 1 hour later)
Three people were killed and many others injured on Saturday in Münster, in western Germany, after the driver of a small truck crashed into a group of people in the heart of the old city, the police said. BERLIN — Two people were killed and about 20 injured on Saturday in Münster, in western Germany, after the driver of a small truck crashed into a group of people in the heart of the old city, the police said.
The driver killed himself after the crash, Viola Gross, a spokeswoman for the Münster police said. “We are still trying to determine how he died,” she said. The driver killed himself in the cab of the truck immediately after the crash, Andreas Bode, a spokesman for the Münster police said. “What led to the act is still fully unclear and we are investigating in all directions,” he said.
Police also said they were investigating what they identified as a “suspicious item” found in the cab of the truck, but declined to give any further details. Police also said they were investigating what they identified as a “suspicious item” found in the cab of the truck, but declined to give any further details. They ordered all residents of the inner city and reporters at the scene to clear out while they were investigating the item.
The German public broadcaster, ZDF, citing unnamed security sources, reported the driver was a German citizen who owned the truck and had a history of psychological problems. Herbert Reul, the interior minister of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where Münster is, said the driver was a German citizen.
The police could not immediately confirm the report, and in the meantime, the police repeatedly urged people on Twitter to stop speculating about the circumstances of the crash, insisting that it was too soon to determine its cause. Several German media outlets, citing unnamed security sources, reported that the driver had a history of psychological problems. According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, a national newspaper, the man was born in 1969 and had come to the attention of authorities for psychological issues in 2014 and 2016.
The police repeatedly urged people on Twitter to stop speculating about the circumstances of the crash, insisting that it was too soon to determine its cause.
Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her shock at the crash and pledged to do “everything possible to investigate the act and to support the families of the victims,” she wrote on Twitter.
While the authorities refused to say anything about the motive of the driver or the reason for the crash, it evoked comparisons to the December 2016 truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market that killed 12 people.While the authorities refused to say anything about the motive of the driver or the reason for the crash, it evoked comparisons to the December 2016 truck attack on a Berlin Christmas market that killed 12 people.
Germany was targeted in several attacks by Islamist extremists in 2015 and 2016, and officials have expressed concern about people who have returned to the country after fighting for the Islamic State in Syria or Iraq. Officials with the country’s Federal Criminal Office believe that 980 Germans left the country to join the fight with ISIS and may be seeking to return.Germany was targeted in several attacks by Islamist extremists in 2015 and 2016, and officials have expressed concern about people who have returned to the country after fighting for the Islamic State in Syria or Iraq. Officials with the country’s Federal Criminal Office believe that 980 Germans left the country to join the fight with ISIS and may be seeking to return.
Saturday’s crash occurred outside the Grosser Kiepenkerl, a restaurant on a cobble-stoned street in the center of the city that is popular with locals and tourists, the police said. It is not in a pedestrian zone, but the area has wide sidewalks where people had been sitting outside on a sunny, spring afternoon, police said. But unlike the attack in Berlin, or the July 2016 truck attack on a crowd in Nice, France, the driver in Münster did not attempt to flee the scene, or seek to engage the police.
Saturday’s crash occurred outside the Grosser Kiepenkerl, a restaurant on a cobble-stoned street in the center of the city that is popular with locals and tourists, the police said. It is not in a pedestrian zone, but the area has wide sidewalks where people had been sitting outside on a sunny afternoon, the police said.
Images from Münster showed bands of red-and-white police tape and rows of police vans that cordoned off the old city. The authorities urged people to leave in order to allow access for emergency services.Images from Münster showed bands of red-and-white police tape and rows of police vans that cordoned off the old city. The authorities urged people to leave in order to allow access for emergency services.
“We are here. Please stay away from the Old City,” the Münster police wrote on Twitter. “Respect the victims. First-responders are treating the injured.”“We are here. Please stay away from the Old City,” the Münster police wrote on Twitter. “Respect the victims. First-responders are treating the injured.”
Germany’s new interior minister, Horst Seehofer, said that federal authorities were in contact with the police in North Rhine-Westphalia, where Münster is. He expressed his condolences to the victims’ families. Germany’s new interior minister, Horst Seehofer, said that federal authorities were in contact with the police in North Rhine-Westphalia. He expressed his condolences to the victims’ families.