Car attack at German Christmas market kills at least five, leaves hundreds injured
A car attack on Friday at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, eastern Germany, left at least give people dead and hundreds injured in what authorities have described as a terror incident.
Eyewitness accounts cited by local media described the dark BMW ploughing through the crowd near the town hall, driving directly into the packed market.
The suspected driver, identified as a Saudi citizen by unnamed government officials in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, was arrested at the scene shortly after the attack. German authorities did not clarify whether the man was also a German citizen. However, according to the German newspaper Welt, he was born in Saudi Arabia.
German news agency Deutsche Presse-Agentur, citing sources in Saxony-Anhalt's government, revealed that the suspect had rented the vehicle shortly before the assault.
The market area was swiftly evacuated by authorities, with police and emergency personnel cordoning off the scene.
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The minister president of Saxony-Anhalt, Reiner Haseloff, provided further details about the suspect.
The arrested man, a 50-year-old originally from Saudi Arabia, reportedly arrived in Germany in 2006 and had been working as a physician.
The driver responsible for the Christmas market attack was quickly detained and later identified as Taleb A., a 50-year-old psychiatrist from Saudi Arabia. According to local authorities, he has been residing in Germany since 2006 and was granted refugee status in 2016.
Social media activity uncovered by reporters appeared to show the man was a former Muslim who had posted support for a number of far-right anti-Muslim politicians such as Geert Wilders and the AfD in Germany.
Witnesses at the scene captured footage of the suspect lying on the ground next to his severely damaged car, with a police officer aiming a weapon at him. Shocked bystanders watched the tense moment unfold.
Germany hosts between 2,500 and 3,000 Christmas markets each year, running from late November until after Christmas.
Since the 2016 attack in Berlin, where a man drove a truck into a crowd at a Christmas market, security has become a significant concern. The attack claimed 13 lives and injured many others, with the perpetrator later killed in a shootout in Italy.
Police have confirmed they are not seeking any additional suspects at this time.
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