2 dead in Germany after driver plows car into a crowd of people in shopping area

BERLIN — A driver plowed into people in the center of the German city of Leipzig on Monday, leaving two people dead, authorities said.

The city’s fire service director, Axel Schuh, said that another two people were seriously injured and taken to hospitals. He said that about 20 additional people were “affected,” without offering details.

Much about the incident remained unclear.

Mayor Burkhard Jung said authorities didn’t know of a motive. But he said that “there is no longer any danger … it is under control. The police have caught the suspected perpetrator.”

Photos from the scene showed a silver car with a battered front after the incident, which happened at about 5 p.m.

The incident happened in Grimmaische Strasse, a street that leads into central Leipzig’s shopping area.

Leipzig is located southwest of Berlin and has more than 630,000 inhabitants, making it one of the biggest cities in eastern Germany.