A car with an anti-globalisation message on its side was seen crashing into the gate of the office of German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Wednesday, a Reuters witness said.
Reuters photographs from the scene of the incident showed police inspecting a vehicle with the words “Stop Globalisation Politics” written in white on the Volkswagen sedan’s right side.
Pictures shared online showed the phrase “You damn killers of children and old people” scrawled on the other.
There were no immediate reports of casualties.
Emergency services attended the scene, with dozens of police officers and a fire engine present.
Police are investigating the incident, with a spokesperson saying that he had no information about injuries or arrests at present.
The vehicle had license plates from the North Rhine-Westphalia area of Lippe.
It was driven away by the Berlin fire department showing little sign of damage, while the gate to the chancellery looked slightly dented.
Europe is on high alert after terrorist attacks in Paris, Nice and Vienna in recent weeks.
The chancellor was due to be host a video call with the country’s federal state leaders on Wednesday morning, during which a lockdown extension and additional restrictions to deal with the coronavirus pandemic over the holidays were expected to be discussed.
Germany reported a record 410 Covid-19 fatalities in the last 24 hours, up from 305 a week ago, and just 49 on 2 November – the day Germany entered its partial lockdown. The toll stands at 14,771.
The number of confirmed infections rose by 18,633 to 961,320, data from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for infectious diseases showed, 5,015 less than the record increase reported on Friday.
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