Five dead, 200 injured after Magdeburg Christmas market car ramming

The number of people killed at a Christmas market in Magdeburg has risen to five and 200 injured – 41 of them seriously – after a car ploughed into the crowd, security sources said on Saturday.

“We have five deaths and over 200 injuries, many of them serious and severe,” state premier Reiner Haseloff said, noting the toll was far 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, police initially responded cautiously when asked whether they considered the incident an attack, stating that they were still in the process of investigating.

The suspect remains in police custody and authorities assume he acted alone.

Security sources told dpa on Friday that the suspect had not been on law enforcement’s radar as a known Islamist.

However, the suspect is reportedly known for his criticism of Islam. He has made erratic accusations on social media and in interviews, claiming German authorities are not doing enough to combat Islamism.

Previously an advocate for Saudi women fleeing their country, he later advised against seeking asylum in Germany, writing on his website in English and Arabic: “My advice: don’t ask for asylum in Germany.”

It emerged later that Saudi Arabia had warned Germany about the suspect.

Saudi Arabian security sources said Riyadh had requested the extradition of the suspect, named under German law as Taleb A., but Germany had not responded, the sources said.

They said the man was a Shiite Muslim who comes from the city of Al-Hofuf in eastern Saudi Arabia. Shiites are a minority in the country, making up only around 10% in the majority Sunni nation.

There are repeated reports of discrimination against Shia Muslims in Saudi Arabia.

German authorities were alerted about the man about a year ago, dpa has learned, however 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, visiting the scene 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 horrific act to harm and kill so many people with such brutality in such a place.”

He called for a comprehensive investigation, saying the perpetrator, his actions and motives must be understood in detail and the 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 hook under each other, that hatred does not determine our togetherness.”

Those who sow hatred must not be allowed to get away with it, he said.

Haseloff said the site would “always remain associated with the history of the city of Magdeburg,” as he visited the scene.

A cell phone video was said to show his arrest. In the clip, 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.

It then shows reinforcements arriving, with several police officers jumping from a patrol car and surrounding the suspect on the ground. The officer instructs his colleagues not to get too close.

A memorial service is to be held in Magdeburg’s cathedral at 7 pm (1800 GMT).

Magdeburg is a city of some 237,000 people in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, some 150 kilometres west of Berlin.

Police in other cities with Christmas markets are also on high alert.

In Stuttgart, a police spokesperson said that police forces on the ground had been made aware of the situation. In Berlin, a spokesperson said that there would be an increased police presence at Christmas markets.

The chaotic scenes recalled the events that took place almost exactly eight years ago in the German capital.

On December 19, 2016, an Islamist terrorist used a hijacked lorry to crash into a Christmas market in central Berlin. Twelve people were killed, with a 13th victim dying in 2021 as a result of their injuries. More than 70 people were hurt. The attacker fled to Italy, where he was shot dead by police.

Interior Minister Faeser had recently made repeated calls for vigilance when visiting Christmas markets, although she said in late November that there was currently no concrete evidence of a threat.