Many people have been injured after a car drove into a crowd at a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg in an apparent attack, a spokesman for the city says.
At least one person has died, the local public broadcaster MDR reports, and between 60 and 80 people have been injured, according to AFP citing a local rescue service.
The suspected driver of the car has also been arrested, MDR quoted a government spokesman as saying.
Footage from the scene shows numerous emergency services vehicles attending while people lay on the ground.
Local police say an “extensive” operation is underway.
Unverified video on social media purports to show a car ploughing into the crowd at the market.
A spokesperson for the city of Magdeburg says all hospitals in the area are preparing for a “mass casualty event”, according to Reuters news agency.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said reports from Magdeburg “lead us to fear the worst”.
He added: “My thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones. We stand by their side and by the side of all Magdeburg residents. My thanks to all the emergency services in these difficult hours.”
The prime minister of Saxony-Anhalt, Reiner Haseloff, described the incident as “terrible… especially now in the days before Christmas”, according to MDR, which reports he is en route to the city.
