Two people are dead and several others injured after a car drove into a crowd in the eastern German city of Leipzig on Monday afternoon, local authorities said.

Leipzig Mayor Burkhard Jung said the suspected perpetrator – who authorities have confirmed is a 33-year-old German citizen – was arrested. Jung added that authorities were not yet clear about a motive.

Police confirmed that a car had struck several people in the central Grimmaische Straße area before driving off. Leipzig’s fire chief, Axel Shuh, said 22 people were injured, including two seriously.

Michael Kretschmer, the head of the state of Saxony, of which Leipzig is a part, said the suspect previously suffered from mental illness.

At about 17:35 (15:35 GMT), Radio Leipzig reported that police said the danger was over and that the area around the square had been cordoned off.

Unverified images posted on social media showed a yellow emergency helicopter near the scene as well as several ambulances.

“It appears that a car drove from Augustusplatz onto Grimmaische Straße, continued through to the market, and seriously injured two people, who subsequently died. Two people were seriously injured,” Shuh said.

One eyewitness told Radio Leipzig that the car came to a halt at some bollards and a woman fell from the roof of a car. They said passersby went to administer first aid and about 15 people gathered around the car to apprehend the driver and tried to drag him out through an open window.

The eyewitness said the driver tried to escape through a passenger window, but police arrived at the scene and secured his hands with cable ties.

Germany has seen a series of car ramming attacks in recent years.

In December 2024, at least six people were killed and more than 300 were wounded following an attack on a Christmas market in Magdeburg.

In February last year, at least 30 people were injured when a car was driven into a crowd in Munich, more than a week before the country’s federal elections. (BBC)