Two killed and dozens injured in Germany as car plows into crowd at Christmas market | Germany

Dozens of people were injured and at least two people, including a small child, were killed on Friday after a car plowed into a crowd at a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg, in what local officials described as a terror attack. attack.

At least 68 other people were injured, including 15 who were left in a critical condition, according to the city government.

In the attack, a black BMW drove straight into the crowd at the Christmas market while speeding for 400 meters in the direction of the town hall, according to eyewitnesses quoted by the TV station.

Videos posted on social media showed a dark-colored car driving into the crowds at high speed. Several media outlets featured the videos in their coverage, but the authenticity of the footage has yet to be officially confirmed.

Rescue workers were seen treating victims on the ground in the market, surrounded by blood. Makeshift tents were erected at the site. Witnesses reported hearing yelling and screaming. The operator of a food stall at the market described the scenes as “reminiscent of a war”.

“This is a terrible event, especially now in the days before Christmas,” Saxony-Anhalt leader Reiner Haseloff, who was on his way to Magdeburg, said.

The driver of the car was immediately arrested and later identified as Taleb A., a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia. Haseloff said the man had lived in Germany since 2006. The suspect, a consultant in psychiatry and psychotherapy, was recognized as a refugee in 2016.

Footage from the scene showed the suspected perpetrator lying on the ground with his head raised next to a heavily damaged black car. A policeman a few meters away points a drawn weapon in his direction as passers-by look on in shock.

“As things stand, he’s a lone gunman, so as far as we know, there’s no further danger to the city,” Haseloff said.

The suspect rented the car shortly before the attack, according to reports citing a security source, and was not known to authorities to have an Islamist background.

A woman speaking to the regional newspaper, Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, said the perpetrator had “deliberately driven into the part of the Christmas market decorated with scenes from fairy tales”, where a lot of families with young children had gathered. She told the newspaper that she had just managed to throw herself and her child out of the way of the vehicle.

“The reports from Magdeburg raise the worst fears,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on X. According to their spokesmen, he was due to travel to Magdeburg on Saturday with Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.

French President Emmanuel Macron said he was “deeply shocked” by the attack, adding that he “shares the pain of the German people”.

Michael Reif, a spokesman for the city, addressed reporters near the market and confirmed that the incident had taken place around 19:04 local time and was being treated as a terrorist attack rather than an accident.

He said: “The pictures are terrible. To my knowledge the car drove into the crowd of visitors … but from what direction and how far it went I cannot say.”

Magdeburg Mayor Regina-Dolores Stieler-Hinz said at least one person had died and more than 50 were injured. Emergency services said the number could be up to 80.

Hospitals within an 80 km radius of Magdeburg were geared up to take patients, while all the region’s emergency helicopters were deployed to the incident.

A witness identified as Nadine, 32, from Wolfsburg, told tabloid Bild that she was looking for her boyfriend Marco, who was torn from her side when the car plowed into the crowds. “He was hit by the car and ripped away from me,” she said. “It was terrible. Nobody even screamed. I didn’t even hear the car.” Marco suffered injuries to his head and leg, she said. “We don’t know which hospital he has been sent to. The uncertainty is unbearable.”

Security experts said they were amazed that the man was able to drive into the market despite the heavy bollards that had been installed to prevent such an attack.

Hans-Jakob Schindler, a terrorism expert, told German media: “Initially it is a surprise that a vehicle of that size was able to drive into a Christmas market in Germany.”

Germany is home to an estimated 2,500 to 3,000 Christmas markets, which are held around the country for about a month, from the end of November until just after Christmas.

Keeping the markets safe has been a major issue ever since 2016, when an Islamist extremist attacker drove a truck into a crowd of Christmas market-goers in Berlin, leaving 13 people dead and dozens more injured. The attacker was killed days later in a shootout in Italy.

Faeser had said at the end of last month that there were no concrete signs of danger for the Christmas markets this year, but that it was wise to be vigilant. Many Christmas markets, including the one on Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz, which was the target of the 2016 attack, have installed extra security, including traffic bollards, in a bid to prevent it from happening again.

On Friday evening, the Magdeburg market’s Facebook page carried the message: “The Christmas market is now closed for today. We ask for your understanding.”