In Germany, in Magdeburg, at least two dead and more than sixty injured after a car crashed into a Christmas market; regional authorities suspect an “attack”

A car crashed into a Christmas market on Friday, December 20, in the German city of Magdeburg (Saxony-Anhalt), leaving at least two dead and 68 injured, the city's town hall reported. Among them are fifteen people “seriously injured”, the others having suffered serious injuries qualified as “averages” or “light”said the town hall.

A 50-year-old suspect from Saudi Arabia was arrested near the market and taken into custody, police announced. The car that drove into the crowd “at least 400 meters through the Christmas market” is still on site, added a spokesperson for the Magdeburg police. “We think it was an attack”a spokesperson for the interior ministry of the regional state of Saxony-Anhalt told Agence France-Presse.

The assailant was driving a black SUV which rammed security barriers, then zigzagged around the market grounds, according to visitor accounts on the local news site. People's voice. While trying to turn around, he was stopped by police officers, according to the same source. Images posted on social media show many people lying on the ground.

A doctor who acted alone

According to the head of the regional government, Reiner Haseloff, the suspect “ works as a doctor here »in the Saxony-Anhalt region, adding, as the police also reported, that he had “acted alone”. The city of Magdeburg is located about 160 kilometers west of Berlin.

On X, the German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, wrote that “the information coming from Magdeburg portends the worst.” The Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, assured that the security services would “shedding all the light on the context” of this attack. The German head of state, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, spoke of an attack in a press release. “The joy of a peaceful Christmas to come has been abruptly cut short”he reacted.

Friedrich Merz, candidate for chancellor for the conservatives in the legislative elections of February 23, 2025, also reacted on the same social network: “My thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones. I thank all the intervention forces who take care of the injured on site. »

Saudi Arabia condemns attack

Saudi Arabia has ” sentenced “, early Saturday this attack, asserting its “rejection of violence”. The Gulf kingdom expressed “his solidarity with the German people and the families of the victims”in a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs broadcast on X.

“France shares the pain of the German people and expresses its solidarity”said French President Emmanuel Macron, also on “deeply shocked”. “The French are reliving the terror of the terrorist attacks that affected us. Our solidarity is total, this mourning is ours and our will to fight is absolute”added the Prime Minister, François Bayrou, on the same social network.

Still on X, Italian nationalist and conservative leader Giorgia Meloni also said she was “ shocked » par “the brutal attack on the defenseless crowd at the Magdeburg Christmas market”. “Violence has no place in our democracies”a-t–she added. The head of the Spanish government, Pedro Sanchez, said “shocked” by the “terrible attack” in Germany

Germany experienced a bloody ram truck attack on a Christmas market in December 2016, claimed by the Islamic State group, which left twelve people dead in the center of Berlin and more than 60 injured.

Several attacks or planned attacks with Islamist motivation, and involving foreign nationals, have shaken the country in recent months. At the end of August, a knife attack committed by a Syrian and claimed by ISIS left three dead and several injured during a party in Solingen, in the west of the country.