Children among at least 28 hurt as incident expected to inflame tensions ahead of this month’s election

A 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker has driven a car into a trade union demonstration in Munich, injuring at least 28 people, German police said, in a suspected attack that is expected to inflame tensions ahead of this month’s election.

The car, a Mini Cooper, accelerated and ploughed into the back of a rally by the Verdi union at about 10.30am during a strike by public sector workers. Employees of daycare centres, hospitals, sanitation facilities and public swimming pools had joined the work stoppage calling for higher pay and longer holidays. More than 1,000 people were reportedly at the scene.