The deputy mayor of the Germany city of Magdeburg said Friday that at least one person was killed and dozens were injured after a car plowed into a busy Christmas market in what authorities suspect was an attack.
Regina-Dolores Stieler-Hinz said that more than 50 people were injured, German news agency dpa reported.
Authorities say the driver of the car was arrested.
“The pictures are terrible,” city spokesperson Michael Reif 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.
Magdeburg, west of Berlin, is the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt and has about 240,000 residents.
The suspected attack came eight years after an attack on a Christmas market in Berlin. On Dec. 19, 2016, an Islamic extremist plowed 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.
