A vehicle rammed into a crowd in Munich, Germany, wounding at least 28 people, said the police officials on Thursday (Feb 13).

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"At the moment there are 20 injured, several of them seriously and some of them in a life-threatening condition," fire service spokesman Bernhard Peschke told AFP.

Police released a statement on X stating that "several people were injured" after "a car drove into a group of people" in the centre of the Bavarian state capital.

In a later update, the police said that "the driver of the vehicle has been detained and does not present a danger".

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"One person is lying on the street and a young man has been taken away by the police. People are sitting on the ground, crying and trembling," a reporter for the local BR broadcaster wrote in a post on X.

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'Suspected attack'

The driver of a car that drove into a crowd in the southern German city of Munich, appears to have acted intentionally, said the head of the regional government.

"I must tell you it looks like this was an attack," Bavarian state premier Markus Soeder told reporters.

The man has been identified as a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker, said the police spokesman.

Scholz says Afghan suspect must be punished and deported

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that the driver must be punished to the full extent of the law and then expelled from his country.

"What has happened is awful," Scholz told reporters. "From my point of view it is quite clear, this attacker cannot count on any mercy, he must be punished and he must leave the country."

He then took to his X handle and wrote, "We are shocked by a terrible attack in Munich," he posted on social media platform X. "The perpetrator must feel the full force of the law."

Notably, the city is preparing to host the Munich Security Conference, which will be attended by high-profile guests, including US Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. 

A large-scale police operation was underway near the central train station.

The incident affected a group of people participating in a demonstration linked to a strike organized by the Verdi union, according to news agency Reuters reports.

The union said that they had no information about it.

The incident took place around 1.5 kilometres (1 mile) from the security conference venue.

This also comes 10 days before Germans are set to vote in a key election scheduled on February 23.

Munich police spokesman Thomas Schelshorn told reporters at the scene that "the circumstances around the incident and how it happened are still being investigated".

As per local media reports, a Mini Cooper, drove into a group of striking workers from the Verdi union and that ambulances had rushed to the scene.

(With inputs from agencies)