At least 28 people have been injured, two of them seriously, after an Afghan national drove a car into a crowd gathered for a union demonstration in a "suspected attack" in Munich, police and officials have said.

Children were among those hurt, Munich mayor Dieter Reiter said, but this has not been confirmed by officials.

A 24-year-old man, who was an asylum-seeker, was arrested at the scene and did not pose any further threat, officers said.

He was known to authorities for theft and drug offences.

The car approached police vehicles at the scene before speeding up when the driver saw officers and driving into people, a police spokesperson has said.

Bavarian governor Markus Soeder has said: "It was probably an attack" while police said they believed it was a "suspected attack".

Officers shot into the car, a cream-coloured Mini Cooper during the incident at a square near downtown Munich, close to the city's central train station at around 10.30am (9.30am GMT), police said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz called the events "horrible" and a "terrible attack", saying "an Afghan perpetrator has severely injured people, and that is not something that we can tolerate or accept.

"This perpetrator cannot hope for any leniency. He must be punished and he must leave the country.

"The government will be starting flights back to Afghanistan despite the lack of diplomatic ties."

Deputy police chief Christian Huber said a police car was "following" the demonstration [by the service workers' union ver.di] when "a vehicle approached it from behind" and made to overtake, then "accelerated and drove into the back of the demonstration".

Officers then "took the perpetrator aside" and shot the vehicle, he added, with the suspect "seized".

Reuters news agency reports a passer-by said he witnessed the car threading its way between the police vehicles before accelerating.

It was not clear whether demonstrators were among the injured or if the incident was related to the rally.

A badly damaged cream-coloured Mini could be seen after the attack along with debris including shoes.

Sandra Demmelhuber, a journalist for local broadcaster, BR24, posted a picture on X showing the damaged car surrounded by police and emergency crews.

She said: "There is a person lying on the street and a young man was taken away by the police. People were sitting on the ground, crying and shaking. Details are still unclear."

The incident is not suspected to be connected to the upcoming Munich Security Conference which starts on Friday around a mile away, the Bavarian governor said.

US Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are arriving later on Thursday.

Security has been in sharp focus in Germany ahead of a federal election next week and following a string of violent attacks.