At least two people have been killed and 60 others injured after a car drove into shoppers at a crowded Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg on Friday evening, local authorities confirmed. One of the victims was a young child, according to Reiner Haseloff, the premier of Saxony-Anhalt. The incident occurred in Magdeburg, the state capital, located 150 km (90 miles) west of Berlin.
Haseloff described the attack as a “catastrophe” for Magdeburg, the state, and Germany as a whole, and expressed concern that the death toll could rise due to the severity of some injuries.
The suspect, identified as a 50-year-old male doctor from Saudi Arabia with permanent residency in Germany, was arrested at the scene. Haseloff confirmed that there is no further danger to the city, as the attacker was apprehended. The motive behind the attack remains unclear.
A Saudi source informed Reuters that the kingdom had previously warned German authorities about the suspect, who allegedly posted extremist views on his personal social media account. Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry condemned the attack.
Following the incident, police cleared the area around the vehicle to investigate the possibility of an explosive device. Local broadcaster MDR later reported that no such device had been found. Authorities also conducted an operation in Bernburg, south of Magdeburg, where the suspect is believed to have lived.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his condolences to the victims, and is expected to visit the scene on Saturday, accompanied by Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.
A video posted on social media captured the car speeding through the market, with people seen being knocked to the ground and fleeing in panic. Another local broadcast showed injured people receiving care, some wrapped in blankets on the ground.
A witness, identified only as Nadine, described how she and her boyfriend were walking when the car struck. “He was hit and ripped away from my side,” she said. He sustained injuries to his leg and head and was taken to the hospital, but she did not know his whereabouts.
This attack comes after Faeser had previously warned about the potential risk of extremist attacks at Christmas markets, which have been a focus of security services. In 2016, a similar attack occurred in Berlin when Anis Amri, a failed asylum seeker from Tunisia, drove a truck into a Christmas market, killing 12 people and injuring dozens more.
