Thirty-five people, including 18 children, remained in the hospital Tuesday, the day after a man drove his car into a crowd celebrating Carnival in central Germany. Police continued to look for a motive for his action, which they believe was deliberate.
North Hesse state police said in addition to those people kept overnight in the hospital, a further 17 were treated and could go home after the Monday afternoon crash in the town of Volkmarsen.
The driver, a 29-year-old man from the area, was also injured in the incident and is himself hospitalized with serious head injuries, Germany's Bild newspaper reported.
Emergency cars, police and fire brigade units standing at the scene after a man had driven his car into a carnival parade in Volkmarsen, Germany, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020. On Monday, Feb. 24, 2020 a man drives into a carnival parade in the central Geman city Volkmarsen and injured several people. (Uwe Zucchidpa via AP)
Because of his condition, he has not yet been able to be questioned, Bild reported, citing Frankfurt prosecutors.
“The motive of the perpetrator is still not clear,” North Hesse police said on Twitter. “The investigation is continuing.”
The crash in Volkmarsen, a town of about 7,000 near Kassel, about 280 kilometers (175 miles) southwest of Berlin, came at the height of Germany's celebration of Carnival, with the biggest parades in Cologne, Duesseldorf and Mainz.
Investigating officers stand by a car that had driven into a crowd of people during a carnival procession in Volkmarsen, Germany, Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. A man intentionally drove a car into a crowd of people at a Carnival parade in a small town in central Germany, injuring dozens of people including children, officials said Monday. Prosecutors said the driver, a 29-year-old local man, was arrested at the scene of the incident in Volkmarsen, about 280 kilometers (175 miles) southwest of Berlin. (Swen Pfortnerdpa via AP)
All other Carnival parades in the central state of Hesse were ended Monday as a precaution.