The toll at a Christmas market in Magdeburg has risen to five and 200 injured – 41 seriously – after a car plowed into the crowd, security sources said on Saturday.
“We have five deaths and more than 200 injuries, many of them serious and serious,” state Premier Reiner Haseloff said, noting that the toll was much worse than initially thought when the incident occurred.
The suspect, 50, who was arrested on Friday evening, is a doctor from Bernburg who comes from Saudi Arabia. He is known as an activist who is critical of Islam.
He has lived in Germany since 2006 and describes himself as an ex-Muslim, dpa has learned.
On Saturday morning, the police initially responded cautiously to the question of whether they considered the incident an attack. They indicated that they were still conducting research.
The suspect remains in custody and authorities believe he acted alone.
Security sources told dpa on Friday that the suspect was not on law enforcement’s radar as a known Islamist.
However, the suspect is known for his criticism of Islam. He has made erratic accusations on social media and in interviews, claiming that German authorities are not doing enough to combat Islamism.
He was previously an advocate for Saudi women fleeing their country, but later advised against seeking asylum in Germany. He wrote on his website in English and Arabic: “My advice: do not apply for asylum in Germany.”
It later emerged that Saudi Arabia had warned Germany about the suspect.
Saudi Arabian security sources said Riyadh had requested the extradition of the suspect, identified under German law as Taleb A., but Germany had not responded, the sources said.
They said the man was a Shia Muslim from the town of Al-Hofuf in eastern Saudi Arabia. Shiites are a minority in the country, making up only about 10% of the Sunni majority country.
There have been repeated reports of discrimination against Shia Muslims in Saudi Arabia.
German authorities were warned about the man about a year ago, DPA has learned, but the nature of the warning is currently unknown.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz and other top officials, including Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and Justice Minister Volker Wissing, are in Magdeburg on Saturday to visit the site of the tragic event.
Scholz called the incident a “terrible, insane act.”
“There is no place more peaceful and joyful than a Christmas market,” Scholz said. “It is a heinous act to harm and kill so many people with such cruelty in such a place.”
Calling for a comprehensive investigation, he said the perpetrator, his actions and motives must be understood in detail and appropriate criminal charges must be brought.
Scholz also called for social cohesion, saying it was important to him “that we as a country stay together, that we stick together and that we stand together, that hatred does not define our togetherness.”
Those who spread hate should not be allowed to get away with it, he said.
Haseloff said the site would “always be associated with the history of the city of Magdeburg” as he visited the site.
Cell phone video was said to show his arrest. In the video, a police officer points his gun at the suspect and tells him to lie down: “Hands behind your back!” and “Stay down!”
The man lies down on the ground next to a black car, which is visibly damaged, and follows the instructions.
Reinforcements are then seen arriving, with several police officers jumping out of a patrol car and surrounding the suspect on the ground. The officer instructs his colleagues not to get too close.
A memorial service will be held at Magdeburg Cathedral at 7:00 PM (6:00 PM GMT).
Magdeburg is a city with about 237,000 inhabitants in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, about 150 kilometers west of Berlin.
The police are also alert in other cities with Christmas markets.
In Stuttgart, a police spokesperson said that police on site had been informed of the situation. In Berlin, a spokesperson said there would be an increased police presence at Christmas markets.
The chaotic scenes were reminiscent of the events that took place in the German capital almost exactly eight years ago.
On December 19, 2016, an Islamist terrorist used a hijacked truck to crash into a Christmas market in central Berlin. Twelve people died, and in 2021 a 13th victim died as a result of their injuries. More than seventy people were injured. The attacker fled to Italy, where he was shot dead by police.
Interior Minister Faeser had recently repeatedly called for vigilance when visiting Christmas markets, although she said at the end of November that there is currently no concrete evidence of a threat.
(LR) Nancy Faeser, German Minister of the Interior and Home Affairs, Reiner Haseloff, Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt, Volker Wissing, German Minister of Digital Affairs and Transport, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) visit the scene of the fatal attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg. The night before, a motorist drove into a group of people in the market, killing and injuring several people. Sebastian Kahnert/dpa
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (R) and Volker Wissing, Federal Minister for Digital Affairs and Transport, stand at the scene of the fatal attack on the Magdeburg Christmas market. The night before, a motorist hit a group of people at the market, resulting in several deaths and injuries. Sebastian Kahnert/dpa
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz (L) makes a statement together with Reiner Haseloff, Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt, after their visit to the site of the fatal attack on the Magdeburg Christmas market. The night before, a motorist hit a group of people at the market, resulting in several deaths and injuries. Sebastian Kahnert/dpa
