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Germans on Saturday mourned the death of at least five people – including a small child – who were killed, and at least 200 others who were injured after a Saudi doctor intentionally drove into a busy Christmas market in Magdeburg on Friday.
The driver of the car – a 50-year-old man who arrived in Germany in 2006 – was arrested and taken into custody for questioning, authorities said. Magdeburg police said their current assumption is that the man, who had indefinite permission to stay and work in the country, was a “lone perpetrator.”
Authorities said the driver had no criminal record, and the possible motive is unknown. The area surrounding the vehicle was sealed off by investigators.
The state premier of Saxony-Anhalt, Reiner Haseloff, described it as “a lone attack.” He told reporters on Saturday that the death toll rose from two to five and that more than 200 people in total were injured.
It is “astonishing, unimaginable, that something like this could happen in Germany,” Haseloff said.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that nearly 40 of them “are so seriously injured that we must be very worried about them.”
German media outlets identified the suspect as Taleb A., withholding his last name in line with privacy laws. They reported that he was a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy who practiced medicine in Bernburg, about 25 miles south of Magdeburg.
Describing himself as a former Muslim, the suspect shared dozens of tweets and retweets daily focusing on anti-Islam themes, criticizing the religion and congratulating Muslims who left the faith.
He also accused German authorities of failing to do enough to combat what he said was the “Islamism of Europe.” Some described him as an activist who helped Saudi women flee their homeland. He has also voiced support for the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Recently, he seemed focused on his theory that German authorities have been targeting Saudi asylum seekers.
Mourners lit candles and placed flowers outside a church near the market on a cold and gloomy day. Several people stopped and cried. A Berlin church choir whose members witnessed a previous Christmas market attack in 2016 sang Amazing Grace, a hymn about God’s mercy, offering their prayers and solidarity with the victims.
The violence shocked Germany and the city, bringing its mayor to the verge of tears and marring a festive event that’s part of a centuries-old German tradition.
Bystander footage shown on German news outlets showed the suspect’s arrest at a tram stop in the middle of the road.
“It was a real chaotic situation,” Lars Frohmüller, a reporter for German public broadcaster MDR, told CBS News partner BBC.
“We saw blood on the floor, we saw people sitting beside each other … and we saw many doctors trying to keep people warm and help them with their injuries,” he said.
“Everywhere were ambulances, there were police, there were a lot of firefighters.”
The sounds of sirens from first responders clashed with the market’s holiday decorations, including ornaments, stars and leafy garlands festooning the vendors’ booths. Footage from the scene of a cordoned-off part of the market showed debris on the ground.
“This is a terrible event, particularly now in the days before Christmas,” Haseloff said.
Thi Linh Chi Nguyen, a 34-year-old manicurist from Vietnam whose salon is located in a mall across from the Christmas market, was on the phone during a break when she heard loud bangs and thought at first they were fireworks. She then saw a car drive through the market at high speed. People screamed and a child was thrown into the air by the car.
The number of injured people was overwhelming.
“My husband and I helped them for two hours. He ran back home and grabbed as many blankets as he could find because they didn’t have enough to cover the injured people. And it was so cold,” she said.
Chancellor Scholz posted on X: “My thoughts are with the victims and their relatives. We stand beside them and beside the people of Magdeburg.”
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also sent condolences and wrote, “This act of violence must be investigated and severely punished.”
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry condemned the attack on X.
Following the incident, the New York Police Department said it deployed resources to various Christmas markets and other locations around the city “out of an abundance of caution”. Still, it said it had not identified any specific or credible threats.
Magdeburg, which is west of Berlin, is the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt and has about 240,000 residents.
The suspected attack came eight years after an attack on a Christmas market in Berlin. On Dec. 19, 2016, an Islamic extremist plowed through a crowded Christmas with a truck, killing 13 people and injuring dozens more. The attacker was killed days later in a shootout in Italy.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser 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.
She said Friday on social media, “The news from Magdeburg is deeply shocking. The emergency services are doing everything they can to care for the injured and save lives.
Chancellor Scholz and Faeser traveled to Magdeburg on Saturday. In the evening, a memorial service will take place in the city cathedral. Faeser ordered flags lowered to half-staff at federal buildings across the country.
The attack prompted several other German towns to cancel their weekend Christmas markets as a precaution and out of solidarity with Magdeburg’s loss. Berlin kept its markets open but has increased its police presence at them.
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