At least two lifeless after automobile ploughs 400m into crowded Christmas market in Germany
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At least two people, including a toddler, have been killed after a car drove into a crowd at a Christmas market in Germay – as local officials said the suspect was a 50-year-old Saudi doctor.
At least 68 visitors were also injured after a dark BMW sped 400m straight through a crammed ‘Fairy Tale’ section of the Magdeburg market on Friday evening at 7.04pm.
Premier of the state of Saxony Anhalt Reiner Haseloff, told n-tv television one of those who died was a small child.
Verified bystander footage distributed showed the suspect’s arrest on a walkway in the middle of the nearby road.
A police officer pointing a handgun at the man shouts at him to stay still as he lies prone. Soon other officers arrive jumping over a barrier to take the man into custody.
A huge cordon was set up around the BMW SUV after a piece of baggage on the passenger seat sparked fears of a bomb – but this was later ruled out.
Follow our live coverage of the tragedy here.
Saxony-Anhalt’s interior minister, Tamara Zieschang, told reporters that the suspect is a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who first came to Germany in 2006.
“As things stand, he is a lone perpetrator, so that as far as we know there is no further danger to the city,” Saxony-Anhalt’s governor, Reiner Haseloff, said at a news conference.
He was not known to German authorities as an Islamic extremist, the dpa agency reported.
Mr Haseloff said the two people who were confirmed to have died were an adult and a small child, but that he could not rule out further deaths because so many people were seriously injured.
“But that is speculation now. Every human life that has fallen victim to this attack is a terrible tragedy and one human life too many,” he 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.”
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?
“I then grabbed the injured people who didn’t have anyone with them and took them to the appropriate treatment areas.”
“With a permanent marker, I wrote the words green, yellow or red on the injured people’s faces, depending on how severe their injuries were.”
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”.
A police spokesman told Bild it’s still unclear whether the attack was carried out by a lone perpetrator.
The car, described as a dark BMW by witnesses, drove “at least 400 metres” through the Christmas market sending people flying into the air before coming to halt.
The driver could be seen being arrested.
Shocking CCTV footage shows the moment a dark car speeds through the densely packed marketplace sending bodies flying into the air.
City spokesperson Michael Reif said he suspected it 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: “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.”
“This is a terrible event, particularly now in the days before Christmas,” Saxony-Anhalt governor Reiner Haseloff said.Magdeburg resident Dorin Steffen said that she was at a concert in a nearby church when she heard the sirens. The cacophony was so loud “you had to assume that something terrible had happened.”She called the attack “a dark day” for the city.
Video on social media shows a number of people lying on the ground and emergency services in attendance.
An “extensive police operation” is underway and the market was closed, according to local authorities.
Magdeburg, which is west of Berlin, is the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt and has about 240,000 inhabitants.
On 19 December 2016 in Berlin, an Islamic extremist attacker drove into a crowd of Christmas market-goers with a truck, leaving 13 people dead and injuring dozens more. The attacker was killed days later in a shootout in Italy.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser had said late last month that there were no concrete indications of a danger to Christmas markets this year, but that it was wise to be vigilant.
Source: independent.co.uk
