A car hits a group of people at a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg, central Germany. Police took the driver into custody, local government sources told DPA. According to Bild there were at least 80 injured and 2 dead, but the witnesses present on site also spoke of “victims”. The Christmas market, located near the town hall, is teeming with ambulances and paramedics, videos posted on social media show. The tragedy occurred at 7.04pm, the car was a BMW. According to local government spokesman Matthias Schuppe, quoted by Bild, the man would have been arrested.
According to what a spokesperson for the local emergency services told AFP, many of the injured are “serious”. Some media speak of several deaths. The spokesman for the government of Saxony-Anhalt said it was “probably an attack” and the spokesman for the municipality, Michael Reif, also spoke of an “attack on the Christmas market”.
The man who, while driving a car, killed 11 people and injured 80 by crashing into the Magdeburg Christmas market, was a Saudi citizen born in 1974. Bild writes it, quoting Die Welt. According to security sources, the man, who was arrested, rented the vehicle shortly before the attack.
Who is the attacker?
The killer who carried out the attack in Magdeburg, driving a car at full speed into the crowd and causing deaths and injuries, has been arrested. He is a 50-year-old Saudi citizen. The man is a doctor who lives and works in Bernburg, about 45 kilometers from Magdeburg.
According to widespread news, he arrived in Germany from Saudi Arabia in 2006, as announced by the Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt Reiner Haseloff. The attacker, born in 1974, would have acted alone. “From what we know at the moment it was a lone wolf attack so we don't think there is any other danger to the city,” Haseloff said.
According to information filtering out, the killer was not known as an Islamic extremist to the German authorities and, for this reason, was not subjected to any type of particular control or surveillance. According to reconstructions, the BMW overwhelmed the crowd in the market at 7.04pm and stopped only after 400 metres. The police examined the vehicle with particular attention, hypothesizing that there was also an explosive device on board.
video edited by Angelo Annese
