Would-be car attacker tries to ram crowds at bus top in Berlin - but misses everyone

The car hit several other vehicles before mounting the pavement

The driver hit several other vehicles before mounting the pavement (Paul Zinken / Associated Press )

A man drove a car into a crowd of people waiting for a bus in Berlin but didn't injure anybody, police said Saturday as they hunted for him and the car.

Police spokeswoman Valeska Jakubowski said the man drove away after the incident Friday night and authorities were still looking for him.

She said the car, a Mercedes, had been rented by a 35-year-old Moroccan man and they had searched his Berlin apartment overnight and taken evidence. She couldn't confirm that the car's renter had been the driver and did not reveal the man's identity in line with German privacy rules.

The man drove into the crowd Friday night in the German capital's Reinickendorf neighbourhood shortly after 8 p.m., but people managed to jump aside and no one was hit.

Berlin police said in a statement that the driver first bumped into a bus and a parked motorcycle before driving at high speed on the sidewalk into the crowd of least seven people.

He then made a U-turn, drove onto the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street and drove away. Witnesses memorized the car's license plate. Police also noted that another car had made a U-turn shortly before and the Mercedes' driver could have been trying to avoid a crash by steering onto the sidewalk.

Spokeswoman Jakubowski said police were still investigating.

Associated Press