Two people have died and "several" have been injured after a man drove into pedestrians in Mannheim at high speed.
The perpetrator is a 40-year-old German citizen with no known ties to extremist groups, according to Thomas Strobl, the interior minister of the state of Baden-Württemberg.
Vigilance is particularly high in Germany following several car attacks recently, and the police have issued a warning about disinformation and a desire not to spread rumors. Ahead of the weekend, the police warned of threats to carnival celebrations from IS-linked accounts on social media, reports Tagesschau.
The 300,000 inhabitants of Mannheim were urged early on to avoid the city center, this being the traditional carnival Monday, Rosenmontag, when thousands are expected to gather for various events. The city's carnival parade was held on Sunday, with 250,000 spectators expected, according to SWR.
Many cities and towns in southwestern Germany are organizing carnival parades on Monday. This is particularly the case in cities like Cologne, Düsseldorf, and Mainz, where the festivities are expected to attract over half a million spectators in each city. Several smaller towns around Mannheim have now cancelled their parades.
In December, a man drove into people at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, killing six people, and in mid-February, a young woman and her child were killed when a man drove into a group of demonstrators in Munich.
