Van's crash into a crowd in Germany kills 3, injures 20; police say driver killed himself.

By Erik Kirschbaum
Apr 07, 2018 | 9:40 AM
Berlin

Van's crash into a crowd in Germany kills 3, injures 20; police say driver killed himself
People walk past police cars in Muenster, Germany, where several people were killed or injured when a car crashed into pedestrians on Saturday, April 7, 2018. (AFP / Getty Images)

A small truck that may have been carrying explosives crashed into a crowd of people in the western German college town of Muenster on Saturday at high speed, killing three people and injuring at least 20, according to police, who said the driver of the truck shot himself to death.

"It's too early to call this an attack but the investigation is going in that direction," said Andreas Bode, police spokesman in Muenster. "Three people were killed, 20 were injured, including six who were critically injured. The driver of the truck killed himself while still in the vehicle."

Bode added: "There was a potentially suspicious object in the vehicle. We are investigating what it is."

German media reports said that the object had wires protruding from it.

The truck smashed into a large crowd of people gathered at a popular outdoor sidewalk restaurant in a pedestrian zone near the city's cathedral at 3:27 p.m., the spokesman said. He added that police are searching for two other suspects who witnesses said may have been involved and fled the scene.

The truck was driving at a speed of about 30 mph when it crashed into the crowd enjoying a warm springtime afternoon outside the restaurant Kiepenkerl near Muenster's cathedral, according to NTV television. German media reported that police were searching the truck for explosives.

"The whole city of Muenster is in mourning," said Muenster Mayor Markus Leve. "We don't yet know at this point what was behind this horrible incident."

Muenster is a small city in western Germany about 270 miles west of Berlin, where 12 people were killed in in an attack on Dec.19, 2016, when an asylum-seeker from Tunisia, Anis Amri, deliberately drove a stolen truck into a crowd of revelers at a Christmas market in an attack which Islamic State claimed responsibility.

With a population of 311,000, Muenster is little known outside Germany but famous inside the country as a pedestrian-friendly city with an exceptionally high number of bicycle riders.

Gabriele Ruegner, another eyewitness, told NTV television that she had been sitting at an outdoor cafe nearby in the city center when the attack happened.

"We were told by police that we should evacuate the area immediately, that there had been a terror attack. We weren't even allowed to pay our bills. Police told us it was a terror attack and there was a danger of a further attack and that's why we should leave immediately."

Kirschbaum is a special correspondent.

http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-germany-crash-20180407-story.html