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TRIER, Germany: A baby was one of five people killed when a car crossed a pedestrian shopping street in the southwestern German city of Trier on Tuesday (December 1), police said, after arresting the driver. .
Prosecutor Peter Fritzen said the driver, a 51-year-old Trier native, appeared to suffer from “psychiatric problems” and had been under the influence of alcohol during the incident, in which 14 other people were injured.
Police said they had “no indication of a political motive” after questioning the suspect, and Fritzen said prosecutors were considering requesting that he be placed in psychiatric care.
At the same press conference, Trier Mayor Wolfram Leibe said that among those killed when the man collided with his truck into buyers were a nine-month-old boy and a 73-year-old woman.
“I think this is the darkest day in Trier since WWII,” he said.
A 25-year-old woman and a 45-year-old man also died. Police have not yet released details about the fifth victim.
Malu Dreyer, Prime Minister of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate where Trier is located, expressed her shock that a baby was among those killed by the driver’s “mad act” and shared her condolences with all affected families.
The baby’s mother was being treated at the hospital for injuries sustained during the riot.
Witnesses had previously described seeing people thrown into the air when the car hit them.
‘TRAUMATIZED’
The incident began around 1250 GMT and ended four minutes after the first emergency calls arrived, with police intercepting the driver after he exited a main shopping street.
Police said it had crossed the streets between 600 meters and a kilometer, leaving a trail of destruction.
Officers sealed off the area and removed people from the city center of about 110,000 people.
Police told AFP it was unclear what exactly happened and said “the background has yet to be cleared.” (Photo: AFP / Sebastian Schmitz)
Smartphone images of a witness showed the arrest of the driver, handcuffed and lying face down on the street, being immobilized by several officers next to the damaged vehicle.
In the evening, the cathedral bells were rung and a funeral was held for the victims.
Joachim, accompanied by his teenage daughters Helena and Sophia, attended the service expressing their sadness.
“We wanted to express our condolences for those who lost their lives and those who lost a loved one,” said Joachim.
An anonymous man who claimed to be a former neighbor of the suspect told NTV that the driver had a history of mental problems, as well as financial concerns and problems with his father.
CHRISTMAS SHOPPING
Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed her “great sadness” and said her thoughts were with the relatives of those who were “so suddenly and violently torn from their lives” and with the injured, in a message shared by her spokesperson.
The first images of the scene showed stunned shoppers huddled in front of stores adorned with Christmas decorations as sirens sounded in the distance.
Broken glass and debris from stalls and outdoor displays were strewn along the cobbled street.
Picturesque Trier, near the Luxembourg border, traces its history back to the Roman Empire and is often called the oldest city in Germany. It is also the birthplace of Karl Marx.
Although Germany is dealing with a second wave of coronavirus that has forced restaurants, bars, sports and cultural centers to close, retailers have been allowed to stay open and many people went out for Christmas shopping.
“It is fortunate that the Christmas market was canceled because of the crown, or it could have been much worse,” witness Frederic Fries told Welt TV.
The incident brought back memories of a truck rampage at a Berlin Christmas market in 2016 that killed 12 people, Germany’s deadliest extremist attack to date.
In January 2019, a German wounded eight people when he pounced on crowds on New Year’s Eve in the western cities of Bottrop and Essen. He was later taken to psychiatric care.
In April 2018, a German man crashed his van into people sitting outside a restaurant in the city of Münster, killing five before shooting himself. The researchers later said he had mental health problems.
