VOLKMARSEN, Germany - German prosecutors urged carnival organizers to review their security arrangements on Tuesday after a local man plowed his car into a parade in the western German town of Volksmarsen, injuring more than 50 people, including 18 children.
The incident on Monday shook Germans still struggling to take in last week’s racist gun attack on two bars in the town of Hanau which left 11 people dead.
A spokesman for prosecutors said there was currently no indication that the investigation into Monday’s tragedy would be handed over to national prosecutors, suggesting they do not see a political motive.
The driver, who had been detained on suspicion of attempted homicide, was being treated for his own injuries. The prosecutors’ spokesman said he had not been in a fit state to be questioned overnight, but was not drunk at the time of the incident. Tests for drugs were due in the course of the day.
While some carnival processions in the state of Hesse, home to Volksmarsen, were canceled, others were due to take place in the region on Tuesday.
Rose Monday is the height of the carnival season in Catholic areas of Germany, especially in the Rhineland where tens of thousands of people dress up, drink alcohol and line the streets to watch decorated floats that often mock public figures.
Prosecutors said there was no concrete reason to think that the risks of attacks at parades had increased, but they urged organizers to review their security arrangements and adjust them if necessary, with policing potentially increased.
Security at public events in Germany has been tightened since a Tunisian man with Islamist militant ties plowed a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin in 2016, killing 12 people. He was later shot dead by Italian police after fleeing.
Thirty-five people were still in hospital on Tuesday, while another 17 had left hospital after treatment, police said on Twitter. Eighteen of the injured were children.
Police, who had detained the driver, a 29-year-old German from Volksmarsen, said his motive was still unclear and investigations were ongoing. (Reuters)