Munich car incident was 'suspected attack' - as police give first details on driver

As you'll see if you scroll down just slightly, police and local officials have been giving updates on the suspect and the incident itself.

In what is described as a suspected attack, a Mini Cooper was driven into a crowd of people taking part in a demonstration organised by a trade union in central Munich.

Deputy police chief Christian Huber said the suspect is a 24-year-old Afghan national on asylum status.

He said a police car was "following" the demonstration this morning.

"Then a vehicle approached it from behind," he added.

"It approached the police car to overtake it, and then accelerated and drove into the back of the demonstration."

Officers then "took the perpetrator aside" and shot the vehicle, he added, with the suspect "seized".

Reuters news agency reports a passer-by said he witnessed the car threading its way between the police vehicles before accelerating.

Germany is already in a tense situation with an election on the horizon, a journalist based in Munich has just told us.

Patrick Howse said there may be concern among security forces in the country, with fears demonstrations could become a target again.

"These streets... they're not terribly wide. It's easy for them to fill up very quickly," he said, speaking with our presenter Jayne Secker.

"And, sadly, they can present an easy target if somebody wants to drive into them."

Police said they believe this incident was a "suspected attack" - with at least 28 people injured. A 24-year-old Afghan national has been arrested.

With the far-right AfD doing well in polls ahead of the election this month, Howse said the "temperature" has risen in the country - especially among immigrant communities.

"It's a very tense situation and it's such a short amount of time [until the election]," he added.

"[This] means that there is a lot of political activity. There's a lot of things happening on the streets, lots of events. That can be a concern for the security forces here over the next days, because packed into narrow streets, demonstrations could become a target again."

In an earlier post, we mentioned reports of witnesses hearing gunshots at the scene (see 11.22am).

Munich Police has now confirmed a shot was fired "during the arrest". 

No more information has been given yet.

A demonstration was taking place on the scene when the incident - described as a suspected attack - happened.

Police have said they believe the suspect saw officers at the scene and then sped up towards the group of people.

It is not unusual for armed police to be at the scene of protests in Germany for security.

A little more clarity now from police, who say the person they secured at the scene was the driver of the car involved in the incident.

"There is speculation about other people involved. Based on our current knowledge, we cannot confirm this," they added on social media.

As we just reported, police said the suspect is a 24-year-old Afghan national. 

Bavaria's interior minister said the suspect was known to police.

The premier of Bavaria - the region where Munich is located - has now said it was a "suspected attack".

Markus Soder added 28 people have been injured, with some seriously and some critically hurt.

The region's interior minister Joachim Herrmann added the suspect was known to police in relation to drug and theft incidents.

It is not thought the incident is connected with the Munich Security Conference, which kicks off this weekend.

The driver was a 24-year-old Afghan national, a police spokesperson has just said.

The car approached police vehicles at the scene before speeding up and hitting people, he adds.

These are the latest images from Munich, where police are investigating how and why a car was driven into a group of people.

It's not clear if this was an accident or an attack, but officers are working on the scene, as you can see below.

We have some more details to bring you now from our Europe correspondent Siobhan Robbins, who is in Germany and has been sifting through local reports and official statements.

Media there reports a mother and child were among those hit in the incident in Munich, citing eyewitness accounts.

We have not verified that, but the city's mayor has said children are among the injured.

Police are telling the public to stay away from the area and the driver has been "secured".

Bild newspaper said gunshots have been heard. 

"We cannot verify that independently at the moment. What we can tell you is that footage from the scene shows a Mini Cooper car with a caved-in windscreen, in the middle of the road," Robbins added.

"And other footage appears to show people injured on the side of the road."

Police in Munich have now confirmed two people have been seriously injured in the incident.

Posting on social media, the force added there are still "numerous emergency services at the scene".

"Caring for the injured is currently the top priority," it added.

There are reports in German media of gunshots heard on the scene.

Our Europe correspondent Siobhan Robbins said reports have quoted eyewitnesses, who say police may have shot at the car window, possibly to gain access.

Police have not confirmed if any shots were fired.