An Afghan man arrested on suspicion of driving a car into a crowd in Munich, injuring 36 people, has admitted carrying out the attack, and it appears to have been religiously motivated, prosecutors have said.
Munich's public prosecutor, Gabriele Tilmann, told reporters that the suspect shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is greatest) in Arabic when he was stopped, and she suggested the Afghan man "may have had an Islamist motive."
A two-year-old girl is among two people seriously injured in the attack near a train station in central Munich on Thursday. She is in intensive care.
Eight other people were seriously injured. Updating the victim count, police said 32 were men and four were women.
This case was reported 10 days before the elections to be held in Germany, which have been overshadowed by a series of attacks carried out by immigrants.
Two of the suspected attackers are from Afghanistan.
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier visited the scene of the attack on Friday and said that "the brutality of this act concerns and shocks us."
Police Chief Guido Limmer said the suspect, identified as Farhad N, 24, was questioned for two hours after carrying out the attack.
During questioning, he told police that he intentionally drove the car into a crowd of people who were participating in a protest at the time.
The suspect has no criminal past and there is no evidence that he was part of any jihadist group.
He arrived in Germany in 2016 and although his asylum application was rejected, he was allowed to stay in Germany, as he had a valid residence and work permit. REL (A2 Televizion)
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