The driver was arrested shortly after the car sped into the market around 7 p.m., when it was teeming with shoppers eager to spend the weekend. The suspect is a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who arrived in Germany in 2006, Tamara Zieschang, interior minister of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, said at a press conference. from Saxony-Anhalt, Tamara Zieschang, told reporters that the suspect is a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who first arrived in Germany in 2006.
“As things stand, this is a single perpetrator, so as far as we know there is no further danger for the city,” said Saxony-Anhalt Governor Reiner Haseloff, during a press conference.
Fifteen of those injured were very seriously injured, according to government officials and the city's website.
Mr. Haseloff said the two people confirmed dead were an adult and a toddler, but he could not rule out other deaths.
“But this is more than just speculation. Every human life that was the victim of this attack is a terrible tragedy and one human life too many.
– Reiner Haseloff, governor of the Land de Saxe-Anhalt and Allemagne
The alleged attack in Magdeburg, a town of around 240,000 west of Berlin, the capital of Saxony-Anhalt, comes eight years after an Islamic extremist drove a truck into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 13 people and injuring many others. The bomber was killed a few days later in a shooting in Italy.
Christmas markets are an important part of German culture, an annual holiday tradition cherished since the Middle Ages and successfully exported to much of the Western world. In Berlin alone, more than 100 markets opened their doors late last month, bringing smells of mulled wine, toasted almonds and bratwurst to the capital. Other markets exist throughout the country.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said late last month that there were no concrete indications of danger for Christmas markets this year, but that it was wise to 'be vigilant.
Migration has been a major source of tension in German politics since the arrival of large numbers of refugees and other migrants in 2015. The government has been under pressure to reduce illegal immigration and has taken measures, notably by imposing border controls.
Hours after Friday's alleged attack, the sound of sirens clashed with the market's festive decorations, stars and leafy garlands.
The attack had repercussions beyond Magdeburg. After a Friday night soccer match between Bayern Munich and Leipzig, Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen asked fans at the club's stadium to observe a minute's silence.
Magdeburg resident Dorin Steffen told German news agency dpa that she was attending a concert at a nearby church when she heard the sirens. The cacophony was so loud “that one could assume that something terrible had happened.”
She called the attack a “dark day” for the city.
“We are shaking,” Ms. Steffen said. “We are full of sympathy for the loved ones, but also in the hope that nothing happened to our relatives, friends and acquaintances.”
For Mr. Haseloff, it is a catastrophe for the city, the state and the country.
“It’s truly one of the worst things you can imagine, especially compared to what a Christmas market should be,” said the governor.
Chancellor OIaf Scholz posted on X: “My thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones. We stand with them and alongside the people of Magdeburg.”
The attack had repercussions beyond Magdeburg. After a Friday night soccer match between Bayern Munich and Leipzig, Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen asked fans at the club's stadium to observe a minute's silence.
