On Monday afternoon, a car drove into a busy pedestrian zone in central Leipzig, eastern Germany. According to the city’s mayor, Burkhard Jung, at least two people were killed and others were injured.
Jung said the person believed to have been behind the wheel had been detained, though his motives have not yet been established. Speaking to reporters near the cordoned-off scene, the mayor called it “a day of deep grief for our city”.
According to police, the driver turned off one of the main squares in the centre—Augustusplatz—and drove through the city’s pedestrian area. He then tried to flee, but was detained.
In recent years, Germany has seen several vehicle attacks in which assailants drove into crowds. The deadliest was the attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg in December 2024, in which six people were killed and another 309 were injured.