A car crashed into a busy outdoor Christmas market in Magdeburg, eastern Germany, on Friday, killing at least two people and injuring at least 68 others in what authorities suspect was an attack.
The driver of the car was arrested, German news agency dpa reported, citing unidentified government officials in the state of Saxony-Anhalt.
State Governor Reiner Haseloff told reporters the suspect was a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who first arrived in Germany in 2006.
At least two people were killed and 68 others were injured, including 15 who were very seriously injured, according to government officials and the municipality’s website. He said 37 people had moderate injuries and 16 had minor injuries.
Regional government spokesman Matthias Schuppe and city spokesman Michael Reif said they suspected it was a deliberate act.
“The images are terrible,” Reif said. “According to my information, a car hit visitors to the Christmas market, but I cannot yet say in which direction and at what distance.”
Magdeburg University Hospital said it was caring for 10 to 20 patients but was preparing for more, dpa reported.
The sounds of first responders’ sirens clashed with the market’s Christmas decorations, including ornaments, stars and leaf garlands adorning vendor booths.
Debris could be seen on the ground in footage of a cordoned off part of the market.
The car arrived at the market around 7 p.m., when it was busy with holiday shoppers eager to spend the weekend.
“This is a terrible event, especially a few days before Christmas,” said Saxony-Anhalt Governor Reiner Haseloff. Haseloff told DPA he was on his way to Magdeburg but could not immediately give any information about the victims or what was behind the incident.
Chancellor OIaf Scholz posted on X: “My thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones. We stand with them and with the people of Magdeburg.”
Magdeburg, located west of Berlin, is the capital of the state of Saxony-Anhalt and has around 240,000 inhabitants.
The alleged attack comes eight years after an attack on a Christmas market in Berlin. On December 19, 2016, an Islamist extremist drove a truck through a crowded Christmas, killing 13 people and injuring dozens more. The attacker was killed a few days later in a shooting in Italy.
Christmas markets are an important part of German culture as an annual holiday tradition cherished since the Middle Ages and successfully exported to much of the Western world. In Berlin alone, more than 100 markets opened their doors late last month and brought the smells of mulled wine, toasted almonds and bratwurst to the capital. Other markets abound across the country.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said late last month that there was no concrete indication of any danger to Christmas markets this year, but that it was wise to be vigilant.
