Car Attacks In Japan And Germany Mar New Year's Celebrations

A dozen people have been injured in two separate car attacks, after authorities say motorists deliberately plowed through New Year's crowds celebrating in Germany and Japan just after the clock struck midnight. In Western Germany, Münster Police say a 50-year-old man apparently set out on a rampage to kill foreigners in the first hour of 2019 in the city of Bottrop. He then drove into a group setting off fireworks in the street, as many people do when celebrating the new year in Germany. He then headed toward the city center where he slammed his silver Mercedes into another group, injuring at least four. Four people were injured, some of them seriously, said police, adding that they were of Afghan and Syrian origin. Next, the man drove to the nearby city of Essen where he tried and failed to hit people waiting at a bus stop, according to authorities. He made “remarks hostile to foreigners” while being arrested by police, said officials. Police said there are also signs the unidentified man is suffering from a mental illness. And in Tokyo a 21-year-old man is under arrest after authorities say he deliberately slammed into revelers gathered in a bustling downtown district early Tuesday, hitting eight. A ninth person was hurt after the driver jumped out of his vehicle and punched him, reports The Associated Press. The man fled on foot, but police found him shortly after in a park, according to The Japan Times. The newspaper reports the man told authorities that he had perpetrated the act "in retaliation for an execution." It would not be the first time a vehicle was weaponized in Tokyo. In 2008, a man killed several people after driving into a crowd of pedestrians, before jumping out and stabbing people with a knife, Reuters reports. Germany has also seen recent vehicle attacks. In April, a van driver killed two and injured twenty after accelerating into a crowd in Münster, police said. And in 2016 in Berlin, 12 were killed and dozens were injured when a driver barreled his truck into a Christmas Market. The worst such incident on record occurred in Nice, France, on Bastille Day, 2016, when a truck driver mowed down scores of people, killing more than 80.
Five people are injured after a man intentionally drives a car into multiple crowds of people in the cities of Bottrop and Essen, Germany. Police say the incident appears to be a xenophobic, far-right attack.