At least one person is feared dead and more have been left injured after a vehicle ploughed into pedestrians in Germany.

The driver of a black SUV is believed to have rammed the vehicle into a crowd in the city of Mannheim early this afternoon, with footage circulating online showing emergency rescue workers racing towards a row of casualties.

Videos show members of the public have held up their coats to shield the injured from view. Another video shows a group of police officers chasing a man near a body of water.

One local woman claimed “several” people had been run over, claiming online: “My daughter just wrote to me to say that a car drove into the city centre of Mannheim and ran over several people. She is fine, but was very close by… no further information yet.”

There are reports a man has been arrested in relation to the incident, with fears at least one person may have been killed.

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Police have urged people to avoid the city centre.

Amed officers with submachine guns are checking vehicles coming in and out of the city centre.

Helcopters are circling overhead as a major police operation continues.

German tabloid Bild is now reporting that one person has been arrested, though this is yet to have been confirmed by police.

On X (formerly Twitter), Mannheim Polizei have asked people to avoid Mannheim city centre and “take a wide detour”.

A vehicle has hit a crowd of people in the pedestrian zone directly outside the Galeria Kaufhof in Mannheim.

A number of people have been injured, including some seriously.

One local woman said: “My daughter just wrote to me to say that a car drove into the city centre of Mannheim and ran over several people. She is fine, but was very close by… no further information yet.”

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