6 injured as car hits pedestrians in German town

BERLIN – An apparently intoxicated man drove a car into pedestrians in northern Germany on Sunday, injuring six people, police said.

The 29-year-old driver, a local resident, was taken in for questioning after the early-morning incident in the North Sea port town of Cuxhaven, authorities said.

Police said on Twitter that he “probably comes from Syria,” without elaborating. A statement issued later didn’t mention his origins.

Police said that they are investigating “in all directions” and were still examining whether it was an accident or the man deliberately drove into the group.

They said that there was apparently an argument inside or outside a nearby disco before the incident, and that a “political background” currently appears unlikely.

Four people were seriously hurt and another two slightly injured. By mid-afternoon, five of the victims — all of them German — had been discharged from the hospital.