Munich car attack: Mother and toddler die from injuries after Afghan asylum seeker ploughed car through crowd

A woman and her daughter have died from injuries they sustained when an Afghan asylum seeker drove a car into a crowd in Munich.

A spokesman from the German police confirmed the pair were the first fatalities from the incident.

It comes as German federal prosecutors said there were suspicions that a car ramming attack in Munich was religiously motivated and intended to undermine Germany’s democratic order.

Officers fired on the car after the attack, but the suspect was not hit. Lead prosecutor Gabriele Tilmann said the driver subsequently said the words “Allahu akbar” (“God is greatest”) and prayed in the presence of police.

Prosecutors had said on Friday that at least 39 people were injured, some of them critically, when the car ploughed into trade union activists demonstrating for higher pay.

The attack has brought security issues back into focus in campaigning for Germany’s federal election on February 23.

More to follow…