Monday's truck-ramming incident in the small town of Limburg in Germany has been classified as a terrorist act, ZDF reports, citing security sources. According to the newspaper, the attacker is a thirty-year-old Syrian-born man.
In the meantime, the Frankfurt prosecutor told Deutsche Presse-Agentur that the motive for the attack still remains unclear and it is too early to draw any conclusions.
Frankfurt Neue Presse newspaper has talked to eyewitnesses about the incident, one of whom said that the hijacker seemed to be in a confused state of mind as if under the influence of drugs. Another witness said that his nose was bleeding, there was blood on his hands and his trousers were torn. According to the witness, the attacker said that he was in pain, and when asked what his name was, he replied Mohammed.
According to Bild newspaper, the man had attempted to steal the truck several times.
The incident in question occurred on Monday when an unidentified man stole a truck, forcing the driver out of it.
The hijacker then ploughed the vehicle into several cars in the centre of the town. Preliminary reports indicated that 17 people were wounded, but the number was later downgraded to nine.
The police later apprehended the allegedly Arab-speaking Muslim assailant, who had shouted "Allah" during his attack, according to local media.