German media reports say at least 11 people are dead and 80 injured after an as of yet unidentified person drove a vehicle into the crowd at the Magdeburg Christmas Market in Germany. Mattias Schuppe, government spokesman, told German media it was believed to be an attack. The suspected driver, according to Welt a 50-year-old man of Saudi-Arabian origin, has been arrested.
An initial report from the Magdeburg police said “extensive police operations” were taking place at the market, and that “The Christmas market in the city center is closed.”
Official police reports have so far only verified one death. No further information about the incident had been made available by authorities at the time of writing, but Bild, referencing reports from emergency services, talks about “at least 80 injured,” and reports a dark BMW driving straight into the crowd at high speed. The car which the perpetrator drove “at least 400 meters across the Christmas market” into the crowd is still at the scene, the newspaper writes.
German t-online reports an eyewitness describing how the perpetrator drove into the fairy-tale section of the Christmas market, where many families were gathered. She and her child narrowly managed to jump out of the way. A man running a hamburger stand said the driver sped right past him and described the scene as resembling “war-like conditions.”
Other eyewitnesses reported to Volksstimme that the driver swerved in a zigzag pattern across the entire market area, seemingly aiming to hit as many visitors as possible. When he attempted to turn around, he was intercepted and arrested by police officers.
Welt reports the man had rented the car, and that a piece of luggage was found on the passenger seat. Authorities have not ruled out it might contain an explosive device, and are also investigating whether the driver acted alone or had accomplices. MDR, quoting security circles, says the suspect arrested was not previously known to the German authorities as an Islamist.
Still, that is the suspicion of posters on social media.
One poster on X shared a video of police blocking off the area around the market and, referencing the tech billionaires endorsement of Alternative für Deutschland—widely condemned by establishment politicians—said, “How Elon Musk was right again. #Magdeburg”
Another poster commenting said she was “fed up that politicians are not able to call the problem of Islamism by its damn name and fight it consistently.”
Saxony-Anhalt’s Prime Minister, Reiner Haseloff (CDU), expressed his shock, saying, “This is a terrible event, especially so close to Christmas.” He intends to see the situation first-hand and said he was on his way to Magdeburg.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on X, “”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 during these anxious hours.”
AfD’s Alice Weidel also extended her thoughts to the bereaved and the injured, asking “When will this madness end?”
Friday’s vehicle assault bears a striking resemblance to the terrorist attack on the Christmas market at Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz in 2016, when an Islamist extremist hijacked a truck and drove it into the crowded market, killing 13 people and injuring 70 others. The Berlin attacker subsequently fled to Italy, where he was shot and killed by police.
Magdeburg, a city of about 240,000, is located in Saxony-Anhalt, about half-way between Berlin and Hanover.
This is a breaking story. It will be updated as more information becomes available.
