News Brief
At Least Two Dead, Over 60 Injured As Saudi Man Drives Car Into Crowd At Christmas Market In Germany
Pic Via X
A Saudi man was arrested by German police after a deadly car-ramming attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, a city in east Germany, on Friday (20 December).
The man drove the vehicle through a crowd of revellers at high speed, causing widespread devastation.
At least two people were killed and more than 60 injured in the attack, said rescue services in Magdeburg, a city located about 130 kilometres southwest of Berlin.
The unnamed suspect is a 50-year-old Saudi medical doctor residing in Saxony-Anhalt.
"We have arrested the perpetrator, a man from Saudi Arabia, a doctor who has been in Germany since 2006," regional premier Reiner Haseloff told reporters, calling the attack a "catastrophe" for the city and the country.
"From what we currently know he was a lone attacker so we don't think there is any further danger," he added, news agency AFP reported.
Authorities reported that the vehicle drove "at least 400 metres across the Christmas market," leaving numerous casualties in its path near the central town hall square.
Emergency responders, including ambulances and fire trucks, rushed to the area after the attack to provide immediate aid to the injured.
Haseloff said the Saudi man had driven a rented car with Munich licence plates into the Christmas market.
Magdeburg's city administration shared on Facebook that 15 people were critically injured, 37 sustained serious injuries, and 16 suffered minor injuries.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed grave concern on X, stating, "The reports from Magdeburg raise the worst fears."
"My thoughts are with the victims and their families. We stand by their side and by the side of the people of Magdeburg. My thanks go to the dedicated rescue workers in these anxious hours," he added.
The incident evoked memories of a 2016 jihadist attack where a Tunisian man drove a lorry into a Berlin Christmas market, killing 13 people in Germany's deadliest terror attack of its kind.
The Islamic State (IS) group later claimed responsibility for the terror attack.
