At least two people were killed and several others were seriously injured when a German man drove a vehicle into a crowd of people in the western  city of Mannheim, Germany on Monday, during an annual carnival celebration. Mannheim has a population of 326,000 and is about 52 miles south of Frankfurt.

In statements posted on social media, Mannheim police confirmed an ongoing operation after “a 40-year-old suspect drove a car into a group of people who were in the Planken area of Mannheim city center. Two people were killed and five seriously injured.” Police stated they “were able to arrest the 40-year-old German suspect from Rhineland-Palatinate [about 90 miles from Mannheim]”. They said “at the current stage of the investigation, it is not assumed that there is a political background” to the incident.

The incident came as crowds gathered in cities across Germany for parades to mark the Christian Carnival season, on what Christian Germans mark as Rose Monday, the highlight of their carnival season that takes place on Shrove Monday, before the Lenten period begins on Ash Wednesday.

Video footage from the Planken shopping district area near Paradeplatz Square in the center of Mannheim showed shoppers standing outside an area cordoned off by police tape and strewn with debris. In addition to the two people killed, 10 people were injured, five seriously. Police have not said if the driver under arrest deliberately plowed into the crowd or whether it was accidental.

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