A MAN was arrested after he drove a speeding car into a pedestrian area in the western German city of Trier on Tuesday, police said, killing five people, including a 9-month-old.

The crash injured at least 14 others, in addition to killing a 73-year-old woman, and the infant, Mayor of Trier, Wolfram Leibe, said during a press conference.

Trier police later said another severely injured individual had died, taking the death toll to five.

Police have arrested a 51-year-old German national, 51, from the Trier-Saarburg district, they said, and had begun questioning him.

The state interior minister of Rhineland-Palatinate, Roger Lewentz, said the suspect had used a Land Rover SUV to seemingly target the busy crowd.

Trier prosecutor, Peter Fritzen, told reporters the motive of the unidentified man was unclear, with no immediate signs of terrorist, political or religious motivations. He added that the suspect would be investigated for murder, among other charges, and did not appear to have a previous criminal record. Fritzen also said there were signs that the suspect may have had psychiatric issues and that he had apparently consumed alcohol.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a statement: “The news from Trier saddens me very much. My sympathies are with the relatives of the people whose lives were taken so abruptly and violently.”

Merkel added that she was in touch with local officials about the ongoing investigations.

(SD-Agencies)