German police say they have no reason to believe the man who rammed his van into a crowd in in the city centre of Muenster had any accomplices.

The attack on Saturday left two people dead, along with about 20 injured. The driver killed himself moments after the incident.

Immediately after the attack, there were reports that there were other people in the vehicle who had fled the scene.

But police said Sunday that they now assume the driver acted alone.

Police have identified the two victims as a 51-year-old woman and a 65-year-old man.

The driver of the van was not identified by name.

Local media have identified the perpetrator as an industrial designer living in Muenster who had been suffering from psychological problems, but police wouldn’t confirm those details.

The bodies were taken from the crash scene in front of the well-known Kiepenkerl pub. The silver-grey van was hauled away hours later, after explosives experts had thoroughly checked it.

“The van is not at the crime scene anymore, all kinds of objects have also been removed, waste of course, as well as evidence that we’ve found on the ground,” police spokeswoman Susanne Dirkorte told The Associated Press.

Anti-terror police flooded the scene as investigators attempted to identify the driver’s motive and determine if others said to have been in the car had fled. Photo: AP

Inside the van, police found illegal firecrackers which were disguised as a fake bomb, a fake pistol and the gun that the perpetrator used to kill himself.

Inside the man’s apartment, which was nearby the crash scene and raided late Saturday, police found more firecrackers and a “no longer usable AK-47 machine gun.”

Chancellor Angela Merkel said in a statement she was “deeply shaken” by the incident.

“Everything possible is now being done to clarify the facts and to support the victims and their relatives,” she said.

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