A car with slogans on both sides of it collided with the gate of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s office in Berlin this morning.
The phrase “Damned Children and Old Fighter” was painted white on one side of the gray car, while the phrase “Stop Globalization Policy” was written on the other side.
A man in a wheelchair was filmed being led from the scene by police officers and firefighters.
Police in Berlin said on Twitter that they had detained the driver and were investigating whether the gate had been deliberately bombed.
Merkel was scheduled to host a video conference of German prime ministers on Wednesday morning, where the extension of the lockdown and other steps to combat the coronavirus pandemic were to be discussed.
There were no immediate reports of injuries. Dozens of police and a fire engine were on site.
Reports in German newspapers stated that the car was registered in the Lippi region in North Rhine-Westphalia. He was turned away by the Berlin Fire Department and showed few signs of damage. The chancellery’s metal gate was slightly curved.
The chancellery office, a white, postmodern building located across a square from the Reichstag building that houses the German Parliament, is quite far from any major roads.
There was no immediate indication of the cause of the accident. The government’s approach to slowing down the coronavirus pandemic and the restrictions has widespread support among most Germans, but it has also led to occasional violent protests in some major cities.
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