The 37-year-old mother and her 2-year-old daughter were injured and killed in a car attack Thursday in Munich, Germany, police say.
At least 37 people were injured when cars were forced into a massive population at a trade union rally.
The driver was a 24-year-old Afghan asylum seeker, police have identified him as Farhad N in local media.
He was arrested at the scene and prosecutors say he has admitted to carrying out the attack. He appeared to have religious motives, officials said.
The mother and child were among those who were taken to the hospital with serious injuries following the attack.
“Unfortunately, we need to confirm today’s death of our two-year-old child and her 37-year-old mother,” police spokesman Ludwig Waldinger told AFP news agency on Saturday.
The car’s charges led to a focus on security issues the week before the federal elections in Germany.
A series of attacks have been carried out in Munich by immigrants, with two attackers coming from Afghanistan.
The attack also took place on the eve of the Munich Security Conference, which began on Friday.
Upon arriving in the city on Friday, US Vice President JD Vance expressed his sadness towards the victims of the attack.
Authorities said the suspect arrived in Germany in 2016 and his asylum application was rejected, but he was allowed to remain in Germany as he faced the risk of being deported to Afghanistan. He had a valid housing and a work permit.
He has no previous criminal history and the police said there is no evidence of ties to jihadist groups. He also appears to have acted alone, German authorities say.
On Friday, police said the suspect questioned officers that he intentionally drove his mini-Cooper vehicle into the crowd.
Munich prosecutor Gabriele Tilman told reporters that the suspect said “Arafu Akbar” – God is the biggest in Arabic – when he was detained. She suggested that he “may have had Islamist motives.”
The campaign focused on the German election on February 23rd, and for several weeks he was caught up in debates of enthusiasm about migration. Last year, he was called after German Prime Minister Olaf Scholz’s coalition government collapsed.
Many violent incidents related to immigration over the past year have led to an increase in support of the German (AFD) party’s far-right alternatives.
Six people were killed and at least 299 people were injured in December after a man drove his car to a German Christmas market.
The suspect was a 50-year-old Saudi asylum seeker who was an outspoken critic of Islam.
And in January, a state-stimulating attack saw a two-year-old child and a passerby killed after a group of children were stabbed in a park in the Bavarian town of Asschaffinberg.
The suspect in the attack is a 28-year-old Afghan asylum seeker.
