At least three people have been killed and 20 others injured after a van drove into a crowd in the western German city of Munster.
The driver shot himself dead inside the van said Andreas Bode, a spokesman for the police.
He said the driver’s identity was not yet known.
The van crashed into people sitting in front of the famous Grosser Kiepenkerl bar in the city’s old town district.
Six of the 20 injured were in severe condition, Mr Bode added.
On Twitter, police urged the public to “avoid the area near the Kiepenkerl pub” where a large-scale police operation is underway.
Police said a suspicious object was found in the van and they were examining what it is and whether it is dangerous.
They told German news agency dpa the object was the reason a large area around the scene was sealed off after the crash.
The force also said they were checking reports other perpetrators may have fled from the van.
Witnesses spoke of two others in the van besides the driver, the German news agency Dpa reported.
The mayor of Muenster, Markus Lewe, said the reason for the crash was still unclear.
He told reporters “all of Munster is mourning this horrible incident.
“Our sympathy is with the relatives of those who were killed. We wish the injured a quick recovery.”
German news Television n-tv showed a narrow street sealed off with red-and-white police tape.
Dozens of ambulances were waiting near the cordoned-off downtown area, while helicopters were flying overhead.
Police said it was too early to speculate about the motive behind the crash and said they are still investigating.
They have urged people in Munster to avoid the city centre.
A security source told Reuters: “The scenario is such that an attack cannot be ruled out.”
The incident came one year to the day after a truck attack in Stockholm killed five people, and has evoked memories of a truck attack in Berlin that killed 12 people in December 2016.
Anis Amri, a failed Tunisian asylum seeker with Islamist links, hijacked a truck, killed the driver and then ploughed it into the crowded marketplace, killing 11 more people and injuring dozens of others.
A spokeswoman for the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said “our thoughts are with the victims and their families” and called the crash “terrible news”.
“I am shocked by the news from Muenster,” said Andrea Nahles, parliamentary leader of the Social Democrats, junior partner in Chancellor Merkel’s ruling coalition.
“My thoughts are with the victims and their relatives,” she added. “I hope that our authorities can quickly clarify the background to this incident and wish the local forces much strength for their work.”
