MUNICH A automobile rammed into a Christmas market in eastern Germany on Saturday, killing five people and injuring more than 200, according to German authorities.
Friday night, as shoppers congregated in the tight alley, the automobile crashed 1200 feet into a crowd. The accused driver, a Saudi Arabian physician who resided in Germany, was taken into custody, according to Saxony-Anhalt Premier Reiner Haseloff.
He claimed that there was no continuous threat to the public and that the suspect acted alone. No other details regarding a potential motive have been provided by officials.
At least one adult and one child are among the victims, according to Haseloff. Given the severity of some of the injuries, he did not rule out more deaths.
According to Saxony-Anhalt’s interior minister Tamara Zieschang, the 50-year-old suspect first arrived in Germany in 2006. According to Zieschang, he last practiced medicine at Bernburg, which is roughly 30 miles south of Magdeburg.
She described the event as one of the worst days for Magdeburg and Saxony-Anhalt.
A vehicle speeds through a crowd of shoppers, striking several while others rush for their lives, according to a brief video of the incident that was put on X and geolocated to Magdeburg. After racing straight ahead, the car turns right out of sight.
According to Haseloff, the individual was operating a rental car.
A hotline was made available by the police for those impacted to call their family members. Due to “extensive police operations” in the area, they declared on X that the Magdeburg Christmas market was closed.
Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, forewarned of a challenging future.
Scholz wrote, “My thoughts are with the victims and their families,” in a message across X. “We support the Magdeburg community and stand by them. I want to express my gratitude to the hardworking rescuers during these stressful times.
Scholz is anticipated to visit the Magdeburg crash site on Saturday, according to Haseloff. The mayor of Magdeburg informed Germany’s public broadcaster DW that a memorial service would take place in the city’s cathedral on Saturday at 7 p.m. local time. Additionally, a memorial site has been established near the St. John’s Church attack site.
In a post on X, Germany’s vice chancellor Robert Habeck bemoaned the event and called it “dreadful news.”
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs denounced the attack on X and conveyed “solidarity with the German people and the families of the victims,” without identifying the attacker’s nationality.
According to Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the State Department, the United States is “horrified by the attack.”
He wrote on X, “We stand by our friend and ally Germany and send our condolences to those affected.”
Nearly eight years ago, in 2016, a vehicle crashed into a Berlin Christmas market, killing at least 12 people and wounding scores more.
As a precaution, police have stepped up security at holiday markets in New York City, hundreds of miles away, after the attack, a senior NYPD official told NBC News on Friday.
More resources will be dispatched to various holiday markets and prominent sites throughout New York. According to the official, there has been no specific local threat, although threats have been made to some markets outside.
Carlo Angerer reported from Munich, and Antonio Planas from Orlando.
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