Magdeburg: A driver deliberately rammed a car into a large crowd at a Christmas market in central Germany on Friday evening, resulting in the deaths of at least two people and injuring more than 60 others, according to authorities. The incident occurred in Magdeburg, the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt, located 150 km (90 miles) west of Berlin.
Among the victims was a young child, confirmed Reiner Haseloff, the premier of Saxony-Anhalt. He described the attack as “a catastrophe for the city of Magdeburg, for the state, and for Germany in general,” adding that the death toll could rise due to the severity of some of the injuries.
At least two people were killed, one of them a child, when a driver rammed a car into a large crowd of revelers at a Christmas market in Magdeburg in central Germany https://t.co/e3z3imidwm pic.twitter.com/M1yhCX5lYD
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 21, 2024
The attacker has been identified as a 50-year-old male doctor from Saudi Arabia, who has had permanent residency in Germany for nearly two decades. “As things stand at the moment, we are talking about a lone offender, which means that there is no further danger to the city because we were able to arrest him,” Haseloff said. Local broadcaster MDR reported that the suspect was not known to German authorities as an Islamist.
Saudi Arabian sources told Reuters that the kingdom had previously alerted German authorities about the suspect, who had expressed extremist views on his personal X account. The Saudi Foreign Ministry condemned the attack, describing it as a horrific act of violence.
Following the incident, police evacuated an area around the vehicle to investigate the possibility of an explosive device, but later confirmed that no such device was found. A police operation was also underway in Bernburg, south of Magdeburg, where the suspect was believed to have resided. Police did not immediately comment on the reports of a suspicious item or the ongoing operation in Bernburg.
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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his condolences in a post on X, and is expected to visit the scene on Saturday alongside Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. As news of the attack spread, Elon Musk, the billionaire businessman associated with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, criticized Scholz and called for his resignation.
A video posted on social media shows the car speeding through a crowd between two rows of market stalls. People can be seen being knocked to the ground and running in panic. Reuters verified the location using satellite imagery, confirming the site of the attack. Footage from a local broadcaster showed people receiving medical care in the aftermath, wrapped in blankets on the ground.
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Witnesses recounted their harrowing experiences. One, identified only as Nadine, described how she was walking arm-in-arm with her boyfriend, Marco, when the car struck them. “He was hit and ripped away from my side,” Nadine told Bild. Marco suffered injuries to his leg and head and was rushed to the hospital, but Nadine was unable to locate him. “The uncertainty is unbearable,” she said.
The incident comes as German authorities have warned of potential threats to Christmas markets, a target for extremist attacks. Just eight years ago, Anis Amri, a failed Tunisian asylum seeker with links to Islamism, rammed a truck into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring dozens.
