2 killed in Germany Christmas market car attack

A car ploughed into a busy outdoor Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg on Friday, leaving at least two people dead and 68 others injured.

The driver of the car was arrested, German news agency dpa reported, citing unidentified government officials in the state of Saxony-Anhalt.

Saxony-Anhalt’s interior minister, Tamara Zieschang, told reporters that the suspect is a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who first came to Germany in 2006.

According to government officials and the city government’s website, at least two people were killed, and 68 were injured, including 15 who were hurt very seriously, Hindustan Times reported.

It said 37 people had injuries of medium severity, and 16 were lightly injured.

Regional government spokesperson Matthias Schuppe and city spokesperson Michael Reif said they suspected it was a deliberate act.

“The pictures are terrible,” 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.”

The sounds of sirens from first responders clashed with the market’s holiday decorations, including ornaments, stars and leafy garland festooning the vendors’ booths.

Debris could be seen on the ground in footage of a cordoned-off part of the market.

The car drove into the market at around 7 p.m., when it was busy with holiday shoppers looking forward to the weekend.

Chancellor OIaf Scholz posted on X: “My thoughts are with the victims and their relatives. We stand beside them and beside the people of Magdeburg.”

Magdeburg, which is 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.