Two dead after car drives into crowd in Germany

Two people have been killed after a vehicle drove into a pedestrian area in the city of Mannheim, western Germany.

Investigators say five people were seriously injured, and another five suffered minor injuries.

Authorities arrested a "lone" suspect, a 40-year-old German man who resided in the neighbouring state, who prosecutors say has "concrete indications of mental illness".

Mannheim Police issued a request that people avoid the area but said that there is no further danger to the public.

Images from the scene showed police investigating a car, a small black Ford, which had sustained heavy damage to its front.

The State Interior Minister Thomas Strobl says the man, from the neighbouring state of Rhineland-Palatinate, used the vehicle "as a weapon".

Prosecutors said the suspect is in hospital with a self-inflicted gunshot wound but is stable after medical treatment.

Mannheim chief public prosecutor Romeo Schluessler told reporters that the man is being investigated for two counts of murder and several attempted murder.

[Source: BBC]