At least two people have been killed and several others injured after being hit by a car in a pedestrian area of the western German city of Trier, officials say.

Police say the driver, a 51-year-old from the region, has been arrested.

The circumstances of the incident are still not clear. The city's mayor described the scene as "horrible" and that the victims included a girl.

Police have told people to avoid the area, near the city's Porta Nigra gate.

A Christmas market that is usually held there was cancelled this year due to the pandemic.

Footage from the scene showed police vans and other emergency vehicles parked on a wide shopping street.

Mayor Wolfram Leibe told public broadcaster SWR that up to 15 people had been injured, and some of them had serious wounds.

Speaking at a news conference, he said: "We [had] a driver who ran amok in the city... I just walked through the city centre and it was just horrible. There is a trainer lying on the ground, and the girl it belongs to is dead."

A witness quoted by Trierischer Volksfreund newspaper said a dark grey Range Rover was driving at high speed.

Police have also told people to not share pictures and footage of the incident on social media.