Footage from Magdeburg, Germany, shows cops circling a suspect following a ‘mass casualty event’ in Magdeburg, Germany, where a car ploughed into people at a Christmas market
Magdeburg: Police arrest suspect after Christmas market attack
Alarming video footage appears to show cops in Magdeburg, Germany, circling a suspect following a horror incident at a Christmas market which reportedly left 11 people dead.
Close to 70 people have been left injured following a car crashing into a crowd at a Christmas market – further deaths cannot be ruled out at this stage due to the severity of injuries some people have sustained, authorities said.
The footage shows cops, with weapons drawn, shouting at a man – they could also be heard shouting at people nearby to get away and one cop can be seen crouching over the man with a torch.
Saxony-Anhalt’s interior minister, Tamara Zieschang, told reporters that the suspect, arrested earlier this evening, is a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who first came to Germany in 2006.
Further local media reports said police are sweeping the area and the car for explosives.
Current figures, which are likely to change soon, say at least two people were killed and 68 were injured, including 15 who were hurt very seriously, according to government officials and the city government’s website. It said 37 people had injuries of medium severity and 16 were lightly injured. Popular German news outlet BILD currently says at least 11 people were killed.
Around 100 firefighters attended the scene and another 50 rescue service personnel.
Videos of the incident circulated on social media and are too graphic to show, but appears to show a dark car reported to be a BMW smashing into a busy crowd.
One witness told BILD the scene was “war-like”. One witness, remaining anonymous, said a person “drove into the fairy tale area of the Magdeburg Christmas market” and that she was able to jump out of the way with her child.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who will visit the city tomorrow, said in a post on X: “The reports from Magdeburg suggest something bad. My thoughts are with the victims and their families. We stand by your side and by the people of Magdeburg. My thanks go to the dedicated rescue workers in these anxious hours.”
German interior minister Nancy Faeser had 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. Concerned authorities in the city of Erfurt, around 80 miles away, evacuated its own Christmas market as a precaution tonight.
On December 19 2016 in Berlin, an Islamic extremist attacker plowed through a crowd of Christmas market-goers with a truck, leaving 13 people dead and injuring dozens more.
The attacker was killed days later in a shootout in Italy.
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