35 hospitalized in Germany after man drives into crowd at Carnival parade

At least 35 people, around half of them young children, remained hospitalized on Tuesday, a day after a man drove his car into a crowd celebrating Carnival in central Germany.

Police said the driver has been arrested following the incident in Volkmarsen in the central state of Hesse, an area still struggling after last week's racist gun attack on two bars in the town of Hanau, which left 11 people dead.

Deutsche Welle media reported that the suspect, a 29-year-old German man, was said by witnesses to have accelerated his Mercedes toward a group of small children and their parents who were celebrating the Rose Monday Carnival.

Bild newspaper cited a police spokesman, Henning Hinn, as saying they were "working on the assumption that it was a deliberate act".

Bystanders said that the Mercedes was driven through a barrier and into a throng of people. "There were mainly injured children lying on the street, but also older people," Reinhard Kubat, the chief executive of the district council, told Bild.

A spokesman for Frankfurt prosecutors, Alexander Badle, said in a statement that of those seriously hurt some had life-threatening injuries. "The investigation, especially into the circumstances of the crime, continues," Badle said. "In particular, no information can yet be provided about a motive. The investigation is exploring all avenues."

Rose Monday is the height of the Carnival season in Catholic areas of Germany, especially in the Rhineland where tens of thousands of people dress up, drink alcohol and line the streets to watch decorated floats that often mock public figures.

'Terrible act'

Hesse Interior Minister Peter Beuth said that at least nine people were seriously hurt. "This is a terrible act committed against people who simply wanted to celebrate Carnival," said Beuth.

Prosecutors confirmed that a second person, accused of filming the incident, had also been detained, according to Reuters.

Beuth said about a third of the injured were children who had come to watch the parade and collect sweets that are traditionally thrown into the crowds at the celebrations.

A source in the German security services told Der Spiegel that the driver appeared to have drunk a "considerable amount" of alcohol.

The German Press Association reported that the suspect had previously "come to the attention" of police for a series of petty crimes, including harassment and trespass.

Police were unable to interview the suspect in the hours after the crash as he was being treated for his injuries. Officials said he would appear before a judge as soon as he was well enough. Prosecutors were pursuing a suspicion of attempted homicide, a category of crime that includes murder as well as some forms of manslaughter.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel sent her condolences to those injured in the crash, wishing them a speedy and full recovery.