A far-right rally gathered in eastern Germany after five people – including a child – were killed in an attack on a Christmas market.
Around 1,000 people congregated in the city of Magdeburg on Saturday night, after misinformation about the motives of the suspected attacker spread online.
The crowd was seen with a banner with the word ‘Remigration’ and local media reported there were some minor altercations with the police.
Police have arrested a 50-year-old Saudi doctor identified by local media as Taleb A, who had lived in Germany since 2006 and reportedly sympathised with Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany party.
The suspect was remanded in custody on Saturday night after appearing before a judge, Magdeburg police said.
Interior minister Nancy Faeser expressed concern that the attack could be exploited by the far right but said little could be done to prevent seemingly coordinated gatherings.
Suspect remanded after appearing before judge
The suspected driver of the car that rammed into a Christmas market in Germany has been remanded in custody after appearing in court on Saturday night.
“The judge ordered pre-trial detention for five counts of murder, multiple attempted murder and multiple counts of dangerous bodily harm,” its statement said.
Five people, including a nine-year-old child, have died following the attack on Friday night.
Far-right gather in Magdeburg
A far-right rally gathered in eastern germany after five people – including a child – were killed in an attack on a Christmas market.
Around 1,000 people congregated in the city of Magdeburg on Saturday night, after misinformation about the motives of the suspected attacker spread online.
The crowd was seen with a banner with the word ‘Remigration’ and local media reported there were some minor altercations with the police.
Police have arrested a 50-year-old Saudi doctor identified by local media as Taleb A, who had lived in Germany since 2006 and reportedly sympathised with Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany party.
Interior minister Nancy Faeser expressed concern that the attack could be exploited by the far right, but said little could be done to prevent seemingly coordinated gatherings.
On Saturday, she also described the suspect as an Islamaphobe.
Members of the public gave first aid to victims, witness says
An eyewitness has described members of the public giving first aid to victims of the attack in the moments after it unfolded. tells the BBC he was spending the evening out with his girlfriend and her family when the attack unfolded.
“Suddenly there was a rumbling and the sound of shattered glass,” the eyewitness told the BBC. “People began to panic. I was next to where it happened. For me it was just the sound first.”
“It took a few minutes for first paramedics to arrive, but it wasn’t enough because there were already 200 people hurt,” he said. “Most of the first aid was done by people there.”
Interior minister warns against attack being exploited for political gains
Interior minister Nancy Faeser expressed concern that the attack could be exploited by the far right, but said little could be done to prevent seemingly coordinated gatherings.
“We have freedom of assembly in this country,” she told Reuters, speaking from the scene of the attack. “We have to do everything possible to make sure the attack isn’t misused by either side.”
Attack has echoes of 2016 Berlin atrocity
Friday’s attack comes almost exactly eight years after a similar atrocity at the Berlin Christmas market.
Anis Amri rammed a large truck into the market, killing 13 people and injuring dozens more on December 19, 2016. The attack was later claimed by Isis.
Using fake documents, Amri fled to Italy and died in a shootout with police near Milan four days later.
Just three days after the attack the market defiantly reopened and was bustling once again.
Berliners and tourists milled around the stalls selling traditional gingerbread and gifts under the watchful eye of patrolling squads of armed police, surrounded by protective concrete barriers, our reporting from the time notes.
‘Children screaming, crying for mama’: Eyewitness returns to scene to pay respects
Andrea Reis, who had been at the market on Friday, returned on Saturday with her daughter Julia to lay a candle by the church overlooking the site. She said that had it not been for a matter of moments, they may have been in the car’s path.
“I said, ‘let’s go and get a sausage’, but my daughter said ‘no let’s keep walking around’. If we’d stayed where we were we’d have been in the car’s path,” she said.
Tears ran down her face as she described the scene. “Children screaming, crying for mama. You can’t forget that,” she said.
Christmas markets a cherished part of German culture
Christmas markets are a huge part of German culture as an annual holiday tradition cherished since the Middle Ages and successfully exported to much of the Western world.
In Berlin alone, more than 100 markets opened late last month and brought the smells of mulled wine, roasted almonds and bratwurst to the capital.
Other markets abound across the country.
‘We are shaking’: Residents describe sickening noise of crash
Magdeburg resident Dorin Steffen told German news agency dpa that she was at a concert in a nearby church when she heard the sirens. The noise was so loud “you had to assume that something terrible had happened”.
She called the attack “a dark day” for the city.
“We are shaking,” Ms Steffen said. “Full of sympathy for the relatives, also in the hope that nothing has happened to our relatives, friends and acquaintances.”
Source: independent.co.uk