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An Afghan bodybuilder with thousands of online followers has admitted deliberately driving into a crowd in Munich, prosecutors said on Friday in what authorities believe was an attack motivated by Islamic extremism.

Two people, a 37-year-old woman and her two-year-old daughter died after they suffered severe injuries when a Mini Cooper was rammed into a group of trade union members on Seidlstrasse at around 10:30am.

At least 34 others were injured injured in the attack.

"He has admitted that he deliberately drove into the participants of the demonstration," prosecutor Gabriele Tilmann told a news conference. "I'm very cautious about making hasty judgements, but based on everything we know at the moment, I would venture to speak of an Islamist motivation for the crime," she added.

Anti-terror police in Germany are investigating the incident, and the suspect has been named as Farhad Noori by the Munich prosecutor’s office.

Follow the latest updates about the Munich car incident on our live blog

The 24-year-old Afghan asylum-seeker was arrested by police soon after the incident, which took place a mile away from the venue where the Munich Security Conference is being held on Friday. US vice president JD Vance and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in the city on the same day as the attack, though at this stage authorities do not believe there is a connection.

Here is everything we know about the person suspected of being behind the Munich car attack so far.

Who is the suspect?

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Farhad Noori, born in Kabul in 2001, first arrived in Germany from Afghanistan at the end of 2016, according to Der Spiegel.

The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees reportedly rejected his asylum application.

Bavaria's Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann confirmed that he had arrived in the country as an asylum-seeker adding that his application had “probably” been rejected, Die Zeit reported. But Mr Herrman added that the suspect could not be deported because of security concerns in Afghanistan, and that he was therefore allowed to continue to stay in Germany.

Noori lived in Munich and had a valid residence permit, it has now emerged.

The 24-year-old’s social media accounts - which had tens of thousands of followers but have now been taken down - displayed a keen bodybuilder who appears to dedicate much of his life to weightlifting.

Noori competed in the German amateur bodybuilding championship and in October came fifth in a competition in the ‘Men’s Physique’ category, Der Spiegel reported.

A young man from southern Germany, who met Noori at a bodybuilding championship, told the outlet: "He took off big, became more famous. He was good at it. His shape got better and better."

He painted a picture of a normal young man who loved his sport. "We chatted, he was really nice and open-minded. There was nothing strange,” he said.

Hints of an ‘extremist’ background

The Munich prosecutor’s office told Die Zeit that there were at least "indications of an extremist background”.

State minister Georg Eisenreich confirmed that the Bavarian Central Office for Combating Extremism and Terrorism had taken control of the investigation into the attack.

According to Der Spiegel, Noori published Islamist posts on social media before allegedly carrying out the crime. In one post from a few days ago, Noori reportedly wrote: “Eradicate all those who are bad to Islam.”

Without explicitly naming the attacker in the Friday morning press conference, German police said the suspect “gave an explanation that I would summarize as religious motivation” when questioned about the attack. "According to all we know at the moment, I would venture to speak of an Islamist motivation,” prosecutor Gabriele Tilmann said.

Police do not currently believe the victims - protestors linked with the Verdi trade union - were targeted specifically.

"At the moment we are actually assuming that the target group here, that the victims from the ranks of this Verdi demonstration, were more of a coincidence," Mr Herrman told reporters according to Die Zeit. "But of course that also needs to be investigated."

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Police correct claim he was known to them

Soon after the incident, Bavarian Interior Minister claimed that Noori had been caught with drugs and shoplifting and was already known to Munich police.

But later on Thursday, police said Noori was only a witness to the crimes, because of a former job as a store detective.

Investigators are continuing to look into his background as they try and establish any potential motive, and they reportedly raided his apartment in an upmarket area of Munich.

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German chancellor Olaf Scholz has called on the perpetrator of the attack to leave the country.

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

"If it was an attack, we must take consistent action against possible perpetrators with all means of justice," he added.

Was anyone else involved?

Police said on Friday that there is no suggestion that any accomplices were involved in the attack. But they are looking into whether anyone else knew about it.

Speculation around accomplices emerged after an eyewitness reportedly told Bild soon after the crash that two people were seen in the Mini. Only one man was detained at the scene.

In a post on X on Thursday, Munich police said they could not confirm whether more than one person was involved.

“As reported, the person secured is the driver of the car,” police said. “There is speculation about other people involved. Based on our current knowledge, we cannot confirm this.”

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