Man who ‘killed five by driving car into pedestrians’ in Germany begins talking to police

‘The victims and their families need answers,’ says Trier mayor Wolfram Leibe

Trier residents have begun laying tributes at a makeshift memorial (Getty Images)

A man who allegedly drove his car into crowds in Germany, killing five people, has begun talking to police.

But officers did not divulge what the suspect, a 51-year-old German man, had told them and have not released his name.

The man was arrested at the scene of the carnage in the southwestern city of Trier on Tuesday after a Land Rover ploughed through pedestrians in a zig-zag pattern.

A nine-week-old girl and her father, 45, were killed alongside three women, aged 25, 52 and 73. The man’s wife and his toddler son were among 15 people injured.

Prosecutors investigating the man on murder, attempted murder and other charges said they had no immediate indication of what prompted him to act, but that there were no signs of a terrorist, political or religious motive.

He had been drinking heavily before the alleged attack, authorities said.

The man, who is from Trier and is said to have been living in the Land Rover which a friend had lent him, was due to appear before a judge on Wednesday.

The court will decide whether he should be kept in police custody or psychiatric care.

"The victims and their families need answers," city mayor Wolfram Leibe told reporters near the makeshift memorial that was growing at the Roman gate known as the Porta Nigra, near the scene of the alleged attack.

Following the devastation Angela Merkel said in a statement: "The news from Trier makes me very sad. My sympathy goes to the families of those whose lives were so suddenly and violently torn away from them.

"I am also thinking of the people who suffered injuries, in some cases very serious ones, and I wish them strength." 

Additional reporting by agencies