SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
To the German city of Muenster now, where police say a vehicle has crashed into a crowd, killing several people and injuring others. For more on this developing story, NPR's Esme Nicholson joins me now from Berlin. Hello, Esme.
ESME NICHOLSON, BYLINE: Hi, Scott.
DETROW: Can you tell us anything more about what happened, what we know so far?
NICHOLSON: Well, I mean, the details are fairly sketchy at the moment. But police have confirmed that a vehicle was driven into a crowd of pedestrians in the city's historic center and that several people are reported to have died. They also say that dozens have been injured. They're currently asking people to avoid the city center whilst they respond to the incident.
DETROW: Do we know anything at this point about the driver of the vehicle?
NICHOLSON: What we do know - and police have confirmed this - the driver has killed himself. They are currently not looking for any other suspects.
DETROW: Of course, driving a vehicle into a crowd in a public place is a tactic that we've seen ISIS use many times in Western Europe in recent years. We don't know exactly whether they were responsible yet, but do we know anything, or do authorities have any sense what the motives could be here?
NICHOLSON: Well, you're right, Scott. And already, German media are talking about what happened, of course, in Berlin 18 months ago just before Christmas of 2016. But currently, authorities say they do not know of any motive. And as I said, they're not looking for any other suspects at the moment. That said, a police spokesperson has said that they're not ruling out that this could, in fact, be a terror attack.
DETROW: Have we heard any response yet from Chancellor Angela Merkel?
NICHOLSON: We have via her spokesperson on Twitter just saying that the chancellor, Angela Merkel, that her thoughts are with the victims of the families.
DETROW: That's NPR's Esme Nicholson joining us from Berlin. We'll be following this story as it develops on npr.org and on our other programs throughout the day. Esme, thank you so much.
NICHOLSON: Thank you, Scott. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
