Magdeburg: At least two killed after car ploughs into crowd at German Christmas market, suspect identified

German public broadcaster MDR reported that the suspected driver has been arrested. Authorities have not yet confirmed the motive or further details about the incident.

Videos circulating on social media show emergency services attending the scene, with several people lying on the ground. Local authorities described the situation as requiring an "extensive police operation," and the Christmas market has been closed as investigations continue.

Regional government spokesperson Matthias Schuppe and city spokesperson Michael Reif said they suspected it was a deliberate act. Earlier Mr Reif said there were “numerous injured”, but he did not give a precise figure.

“The pictures are terrible,” he said. “My information is that a car drove into the Christmas market visitors, but I can’t yet say from what direction and how far.”

Magdeburg’s University Hospital said it was taking care of 10 to 20 patients but was preparing for more, dpa reported. The sounds of sirens from first responders clashed with the market’s holiday decorations. Footage from the scene of a cordoned-off part of the market showed debris on the ground.

“This is a terrible event, particularly now in the days before Christmas,” Saxony-Anhalt governor Reiner Haseloff said. Mr Haseloff told dpa that he was on his way to Magdeburg but could not immediately give any information on victims or what was behind the incident.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz posted on X, formerly Twitter: “My thoughts are with the victims and their relatives. We stand beside them and beside the people of Magdeburg.”

Magdeburg, which is west of Berlin, is the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt and has about 240,000 residents. The suspected attack comes eight years after an attack on a Christmas market in Berlin.

On December 19 2016, an Islamic extremist drove through a crowded Christmas with a truck, killing 13 people and injuring dozens more. The attacker was killed days later in a shootout in Italy.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said late last month that there were no concrete indications of a danger to Christmas markets this year, but that it was wise to be vigilant.

According to reports, the man arrested following the attack was a doctor from Saudi Arabia. Mr Haseloff said he was not previously on law enforcement’s radar.