At Least 2 Dead, 60 Injured After Car “Attack” On German Christmas Market, Saudi Driver Arrested

Original article here

Watch Live UK News

Summary:

  • At least 2 dead
  • At least 60 injured
  • The suspect is a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who first came to Germany in 2006
  • Suspect has been arrested.
  • “Lone perpetrator”

*   *   *

Update (1650ET): AP reports that at least two people are dead and at least 60 injured in what authorities suspect was an attack.

The driver of the car was arrested shortly after the car barreled into the market at around 7 p.m., when it was busy with holiday shoppers looking forward to the weekend.

The suspect is a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who first came to Germany in 2006, Saxony-Anhalt’s interior minister, Tamara Zieschang, said at a news conference.

 “As things stand, he is a lone perpetrator, so that as far as we know there is no further danger to the city,” Saxony-Anhalt’s governor, Reiner Haseloff, told reporters.

Fifteen of the injured were were hurt very seriously, according to government officials and the city government’s website.

Haseloff said the two people who were confirmed to have died were an adult and a toddler, but that he couldn’t rule out further deaths.

“But that is speculation now. Every human life that has fallen victim to this attack is a terrible tragedy and one human life too many,” he said.

Magdeburg’s University Hospital said it was taking care of 10 to 20 patients but was preparing for more, dpa reported.

*  *  *

Update (1534ET): Government spokesman Matthias Schuppe told German media outlet WELT that the car-ramming incident at a Christmas market in Magdeburg “was an attack.” City spokesman Michael Reif stated that initial reports suggested it was an “attack on the Christmas market.”

WELT reported that the suspected perpetrator is in police custody. Security sources told the outlet that the male driver is of Saudi Arabian origin and was born in 1974.

Elon Musk called for the resignation of Chancellor Olaf Scholz: “Scholz should resign immediately. Incompetent fool.” 

*   *   *

Update (1456ET):

AFP News reports that 60 to 80 people were injured when a car rammed through a Christmas market in Germany. There is no official word regarding fatalities.

*   *   *

Update (1440ET):

There are a lot of casualty numbers being thrown out on X.

According to German news outlet MDR News:

“At least one person is dead and several people are injured. A large number of rescue workers are deployed. The suspected driver of the car has been arrested. An overview of the latest developments.” 

Overview of the Christmas market:

Shocking video…

*   *   *

Panic erupted at a popular Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, on Friday evening after a vehicle plowed through the market. Details remain scant, but such incidents have become all too familiar around Christian holidays, often involving vehicle or knife attacks.

“A state of emergency currently prevails at the Magdeburg Christmas market. According to eyewitnesses, numerous people fled the market area in panic. A vehicle is said to have driven into the crowd,” Epoch Times Deutsche reported.

Unverified footage on X published moments ago shows what appears to be a number of causalities…

Naomi Seibt, a German teen who has a prominent voice on X and denounces mass migration in Europe, asked if this incident was “terrorism”?

“Islamists have been sending explicit threats that they will attack our Christmas markets via immigrants. The police already prevented several attempts last minute,” Seibt, adding, “Elon Musk is right: Only the AfD can save Germany.”