Syrian arrested in Germany over fires and shop rammings

A Syrian suspect has been arrested after fires broke out at two apartment blocks and a van was rammed into shops in the western Germany city of Essen, police said Sunday.

More than 30 people were injured in the fires on Saturday evening, including eight children who were seriously injured, Essen police said in a statement.

A short time later, a van was rammed into two shops nearby, causing damage but no injuries, the police said.

A 41-year-old Syrian man was arrested at the scene.

Initial investigations indicated that the suspect's alleged motive was that his wife had left him, the police said.

He had gone out armed with "knives and fire accelerants" intending to target homes and shops in Essen connected with people who had supported his wife, they said.

The Bild daily reported that the suspect had threatened passers-by with a machete.

The alleged rampage comes at a time of heated debate in Germany over migration after a spate of attacks.

Three people were killed and eight wounded in a knife attack at a street festival in the western city of Solingen in August, allegedly carried out by a Syrian asylum seeker.

Germany has responded to the attacks by taking steps to tighten immigration controls and knife laws.

The government has introduced new checks along all of its borders and promised to speed up deportations of migrants who have no right to stay in Germany.

Germany took in more than a million asylum seekers in 2015-2016 at the height of Europe's migrant crisis -- a deeply divisive influx that has fuelled the popularity of the far-right AfD.