Car drives into crowd in Germany's Stuttgart; one killed, several injured

Berlin: One person has died and eight others, including three seriously, were injured after a car struck a group of pedestrians in the city center of Stuttgart, southwestern Germany, local police reported. Authorities added that there was "no indication" it was an attack.

The incident occurred in the Olgaeck area of the Stuttgart-Mitte district, Xinhua news agency reported. Both the police and the fire department were responding to the event.

German security services have been on high alert following several deadly car-ramming attacks in recent months, including in the eastern city of Magdeburg and in the southern city of Munich.

Police in Stuttgart however said on their X account that "based on our current investigations... our colleagues at the scene believe this was a tragic accident".

The police said that the incident in the central Olgaeck district had left "eight injured, including three seriously hurt". At least one person had to be resuscitated.

The city fire service said on its X account that the three seriously injured people had been taken to hospital while others were being treated at the scene where debris lay scattered on the road.

A police spokeswoman told AFP that "at around 5:50 pm a black G-class Mercedes drove into a group of people" and that "the driver was arrested".

Police warned people to avoid Stuttgart city centre and said that there was severe disruption to traffic.

A mangled pushchair was visible in images from the scene. The Bild daily reported witnesses as saying that a woman with a pushchair had been one of those hit by the car.