A minimum of two individuals had been killed and dozens had been injured after a automobile plowed right into a busy Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, on Friday. Authorities stated it seemed to be a deliberate assault.
The state premier of Saxony-Anhalt, Reiner Haseloff, stated at a information convention on the scene in Magdeburg that the suspect was a 50-year-old physician who arrived in Germany in 2006. He stated the person had indefinite permission to remain and work within the nation.
Haseloff described it as “a lone assault.” He stated no less than 60 have been injured and so they can not rule out additional deaths.
The motive force of the automobile was arrested, German information company dpa reported, citing unidentified authorities officers within the state of Saxony-Anhalt. Regional authorities spokesperson Matthias Schuppe and metropolis spokesperson Michael Reif stated they suspected it was a deliberate act.
Reif stated there have been “quite a few injured,” however he did not give a exact determine.
“The images are horrible,” he stated. “My info is {that a} automobile drove into the Christmas market guests, however I am unable to but say from what route and the way far.”
Magdeburg’s College Hospital stated it was caring for 10 to twenty sufferers however was getting ready for extra, dpa reported.
The sounds of sirens from first responders clashed with the market’s vacation decorations, together with ornaments, stars and leafy garland festooning the distributors’ cubicles. Footage from the scene of a cordoned-off a part of the market confirmed particles on the bottom.
Police vans and ambulances on the scene of the annual Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, after a automobile drove into the gang on Dec. 20, 2024.
Craig Stennett / Getty Photographs
“It is a horrible occasion, significantly now within the days earlier than Christmas,” Haseloff stated. Haseloff advised dpa that he was on his solution to Magdeburg however could not instantly give any info on victims or what was behind the incident.
Chancellor OIaf Scholz posted on X: “My ideas are with the victims and their family. We stand beside them and beside the individuals of Magdeburg.”
Magdeburg, which is west of Berlin, is the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt and has about 240,000 residents.
The suspected assault got here eight years after an assault on a Christmas market in Berlin. On Dec. 19, 2016, an Islamic extremist plowed by way of a crowded Christmas with a truck, killing 13 individuals and injuring dozens extra. The attacker was killed days later in a shootout in Italy.
Christmas markets are an enormous a part of German tradition as an annual vacation custom cherished because the Center Ages and efficiently exported to a lot of the Western world. In Berlin alone, greater than 100 markets opened late final month and introduced the smells of mulled wine, roasted almonds and bratwurst to the capital. Different markets abound throughout the nation.
German Inside Minister Nancy Faeser stated late final month that there have been no concrete indications of a hazard to Christmas markets this yr, however that it was clever to be vigilant. She stated Friday on social media, “The information from Magdeburg is deeply stunning. The emergency companies are doing the whole lot they’ll to take care of the injured and save lives. Our ideas are with the victims and their households.”
It is a growing story. Please verify again for updates.