A car crashed into the pedestrian zone of this eastern German city, killing at least two people and injuring around twenty. The driver has been arrested.
Two people died and around twenty were injured after a car crashed into a pedestrian zone in the center of Leipzig, in eastern Germany, on Monday, May 4 in the afternoon, police reported, cited by the regional TV channel MDR.
According to the regional public media MDR, which also quotes the police, “a car drove into a crowd of people” on a major pedestrian axis in the old town, lined with shops and historic buildings.
Two dead and around twenty injured
The local newspaper Leipziger Volkszeitung, citing the mayor of Leipzig, also reported two deaths. “The police apprehended the suspect,” said Mayor Burkhard Jung.
“A car struck several pedestrians on Grimmaische street before fleeing. The driver of the vehicle has been arrested and is no longer a danger,” confirmed the city police on X.
The chief of the Leipzig fire department, cited by the same media, reported two serious injuries and “20 other injuries.” According to the prime minister of Saxony, Michael Kretschmer, the suspect is a young man “suffering from mental disorders, of German nationality.”
“We are devastated. All I can do for now is express my solidarity with the families of the victims,” added the mayor.
Germany has been shaken in recent years by several car-related attacks, including the ones against Christmas markets in Berlin (2016) and Magdeburg (2024), as well as the one against a union procession in Munich at the beginning of 2025.
The city has gradually banned cars from its historic center for over a decade.
