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A car crashed into a busy outdoor Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg on Friday, killing at least two people and injuring at least 60 in what authorities called a deliberate attack.
The driver was arrested at the scene at around 7pm, shortly after his car crashed into a market crowded with holiday shoppers looking forward to the weekend.
Verified bystander footage distributed by German news agency dpa showed the suspect being arrested on a sidewalk in the middle of the road. A nearby police officer pointed a gun at the man, who was lying face down, and yelled at him. Other officers soon arrived and took the man into custody.
The two people confirmed dead were an adult and a child, but authorities said they could not rule out more deaths as 15 people were seriously injured.
The violence shocked the city, brought the mayor to tears, and ruined a festive event that is part of centuries-old German tradition.
A closed Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, on December 20, 2024. (Heiko Rebsch/picture Alliance via Getty Images)
Tamara Zeeshan, Saxony-Anhalt’s interior minister, told a news conference that the suspect is a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who moved to Germany in 2006. She said he works as a doctor in Bernburg, about 40 kilometers south of Magdeburg.
“As things stand, he is a lone perpetrator and, as far as we know, there is no further danger in the city,” Saxony-Anhalt governor Rainer Haseroff told reporters. All human lives were sacrificed.” This is a terrible tragedy and one human life is too many. ”
The riot broke out in Magdeburg, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt, a city of about 240,000 people west of Berlin. Friday’s attack came eight years after Islamic extremists drove a truck into Berlin’s crowded Christmas market, killing 13 people and injuring scores more. The attacker was killed days later in a gunfight in Italy.
Christmas markets are a big part of German culture, a cherished annual holiday tradition since the Middle Ages, and exported to many Western countries. More than 100 markets opened in Berlin alone late last month, bringing the aromas of mulled wine, roasted almonds and bratwurst to the capital. There are many other markets around the country as well.
German Interior Minister Nancy Feser said late last month that although there were no concrete signs that this year’s Christmas markets were in danger, it was wise to be cautious.
Hours after Friday’s tragedy, the screams of sirens clashed with the market’s festive decorations, stars and garlands of leaves.
Dorin Steffen, a resident of Magdeburg, told police that she was at a concert at a nearby church when she heard the sirens. The cacophony was so loud that “you had to think something terrible had happened.”
She called the attack a “dark day” for the city.
“We are shaken,” Stephens said. “Our hearts go out to the relatives and we pray that nothing happens to our relatives, friends and acquaintances.”
The attack reverberated far beyond Magdeburg, with Hazelov calling it a catastrophe for the city, state and country. He said flags in Saxony-Anhalt would be lowered to half-mast and the federal government had plans to do the same.
(L-R) Saxony-Anhalt Interior Minister Tamara Zieshan, Governor Rainer Haseroff, and Magdeburg Mayor Simone Boris address the media following the fatal accident that occurred in Magdeburg, Germany, on December 20, 2024. (Hendrik Schmidt/Photo Union, via Getty Images)
“This is really one of the worst things that can happen, especially in relation to what the Christmas market brings,” the governor said.
Prime Minister Oiav Scholz posted on X: We stand with them and with the people of Magdeburg. ”
Magdeburg Mayor Simone Boris tearfully said authorities planned to prepare a memorial at the city’s cathedral on Saturday.
After Friday night’s soccer match between Bayern Munich and Leipzig, Bayern CEO Jan Christian Dresen called on fans in the club’s stadium to observe a moment of silence.
A moment of silence is observed after the Bundesliga match between FC Bayern Munich and RB Leipzig at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany on December 20, 2024 (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
Mr. Moulson reported from Berlin.
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