Two people, including a toddler, have been killed after a car was driven into a crowd at a Christmas market in Germay, as local officials treating it as a deliberate attack said the suspect was a Saudi doctor.
At least 68 visitors were also injured after the vehicle sped 400m straight through a crammed “Fairy Tale” section of the Magdeburg market on Friday evening at about 7pm.
Magdeburg is a city of about 240,000 people west of Berlin. Saxony-Anhalt’s governor Reiner Haseloff said that one of those killed was a small child.
Bystander footage distributed by the German news agency dpa showed the suspect surrender. He stood in the middle of the road and put his hands up before lying down and waiting for armed officers to take him into custody.
A huge cordon was set up around a vehicle after a piece of baggage on the passenger seat sparked fears of a bomb, but this was later ruled out.
At the scene of the incident, emergency workers could be seen treating victims on the ground while tents were put up in the area.
Follow our live coverage of the tragedy here.
Mr Haseloff said: “It’s a terrible tragedy. This is a catastrophe for the city of Magdeburg and for the state, and for Germany generally as well.
“It is really one of the worst things one can imagine, particularly in connection with what a Christmas market should bring.”
The man arrested is a Saudi doctor who first came to Germany in 2006, said Saxony-Anhalt’s interior minister, Tamara Zieschang. The man was reportedly not known to German authorities as an Islamic extremist.
Ms Zieschang said: “As things stand, he is a lone perpetrator, so that as far as we know there is no further danger to the city.”
The UK government is in contact with German authorities, the Foreign Office said, and is closely monitoring the situation.
Sir Keir Starmer said: “I am horrified by the atrocious attack in Magdeburg. My thoughts are with the victims, their families and all those affected. We stand with the people of Germany.”
Of the at least 68 people injured, some 15 were hurt very seriously, according to government officials and the city government’s website. More than 30 people had injuries of medium severity and 16 were lightly injured.
Firefighter Johannes, 22, told Bild of the horrific scenes as he rushed to help the victims. He said: “It was like something out of a bad movie.
“I ran through the devastated market, people were lying on the left and right. And the only thing that went through my mind was: who am I going to help now?”
He added: “The people in Magdeburg are in shock. But at the same time they have shown that they are there for each other. I was proud when I saw how many helpers came together in such a short space of time.”
An eyewitness told the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung that the car “drove into the ‘Fairy Tale’ area of the Magdeburg Christmas market” full of families at the time.
She and her child were able to jump out of the car’s path as it sped through.
A stallholder said that the driver raced directly past his burger stand describing the aftermath as “war-like”.
City spokesperson Michael Reif said he suspected the incident was a deliberate act.
“The pictures are terrible,” he said. “My information is that a car drove into the Christmas market visitors, but I can’t yet say from what direction and how far.”
German chancellor Olaf Scholz, who will visit the scene on Saturday, posted on X, formerly Twitter: “The reports from Magdeburg suggest something terrible is to come. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.
“We stand by their side and by the side of the people of Magdeburg. My thanks go to the dedicated rescue workers in these anxious hours.”
The suspected attack comes eight years after an attack on a Christmas market in Berlin.
On 19 December 2016, an Islamic extremist drove through a crowded market with a truck, killing 13 people and injuring dozens more.
Source: independent.co.uk