A man injured four people in Germany after driving into a group celebrating the new year, in what police described on Tuesday as an anti-migrant attack. "The authorities think that this is a targeted attack, motivated by the driver's hostility to foreigners," said the Essen prosecutors office and Muenster police.

They also said they thought the 50-year-old suspect has mental health issues. The man "clearly intended to kill foreigners," said North Rhine-Westphalia state interior minister Herbert Reul. The incident took place a little after midnight in the town of Bottrop, about 12 kilometres (eight miles) north of Essen in Germany's west.

The driver first tried to run over a person, but they managed to get out of the way. He then drove into a group setting off fireworks in the street, as many people do when celebrating the new year in Germany.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2019