'A terrible, insane act': Five confirmed dead and more than 200 injured in Christmas market attack as suspect named

21 December 2024, 10:12 | Updated: 21 December 2024, 12:58

Five people including a child have died and 200 more injured after a car ploughed into a crowd at a Christmas market in Germany, with the reported suspect now named.

The car, thought to have been a dark-coloured BMW, reportedly crashed through barriers protecting the market around 7:04pm and ploughed into shoppers in the eastern German city of Magdeburg.

Saxony-Anhalt's Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff said the suspect, who has been arrested, is a 50-year-old Saudi Arabian doctor who came to Germany in 2006, named in the German press as Taleb A.

It is believed he was acting alone and was not previously known to security forces.

He was reportedly granted asylum in Germany after expressing "anti-Islam" views in his home country.

According to German media, the suspect had expressed far-right views online and supported the Alternative for Germany (AdD) party.

Speaking on Saturday, the region's minister confirmed Taleb A held "Islamophobic views" while some outlets have reported he tweeted about "murdering Germans."

Saudi Arabia had warned Germany about Taleb A’s “extremist views”, Reuters reports.

Saxony-Anhalt's interior minister, Tamara Zieschang, told reporters the suspect has been practising medicine in Bernburg, about 23 miles (36km) south of Magdeburg.

The car used in the attack was a rental vehicle registered to Munich.

Sixty eight people were hurt in the incident, which they are treating as an attack, and five people, including a young child, have died according to reports in Germany.

Read more: Everything we know about Germany Christmas market attack and arrested Saudi doctor so far

Government spokesperson Matthias Schuppe was quoted by public broadcaster MDR describing the incident as an "attack".

Police have cordoned off the centre of the city.

All hospitals in the city were told to prepare for a "mass casualty event" and hospitals in the nearby city of Halle were put on standby to accept patients.

Video thought to be of the incident shows a car ploughing through shoppers surrounded by stalls on either side, leaving dozens of people on the floor.

Different footage shows onlookers trying to help those on the floor.

Police said the car was driven “at least 400 meters across the Christmas market”.

Footage posted on social media showed at least nine police cars at the site.

The Foreign Office said it is "closely monitoring the situation" in Magdeburg.

A spokesperson said: "We are in contact with the German authorities following an incident in the city of Magdeburg and are closely monitoring the situation.”

Germany's chancellor Olaf Scholz said: “My thoughts are with the victims and their families. We stand by their side and by the side of the people of Magdeburg. My thanks go to the dedicated rescue workers in these anxious hours."

Visiting the site of the attack on Saturday, Scholz branded it a "terrible, insane act."

He said there is “no place more peaceful and cheerful than a Christmas market,” and warned the "full force" of the law will come down on the alleged attacker.

"What a terrible act it is to injure and kill so many people there with such brutality.

"We have now learned that there are over 200 who were injured. Five have died so far, an incredible number, almost 40 are so seriously injured that we have to be very worried about them."

Tributes from world leaders and celebrities have poured in following the incident.

The German foreign minister said: "The images from Magdeburg shock me deeply. For families and friends who wanted to spend time together at the Christmas market, nothing is as it was.

"My deepest sympathy goes out to the victims and their families. My thanks to the rescue workers and helpers."

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: "My thoughts today are with the victims of the brutal and cowardly act in Magdeburg.

"My condolences go out to the family and friends, my thanks to the police and rescue workers.

"This act of violence must be investigated and severely punished."

French President Emmanuel Macron said: "Deeply shocked by the horror that struck the Magdeburg Christmas market in Germany this evening.

"My thoughts are with the victims, the injured, and their loved ones and families. France shares the pain of the German people and expresses its full solidarity."

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said: "I am deeply shocked by the brutal attack on the defenseless crowd at the Christmas market in Magdeburg.

"I stand with the entire government, the families of the victims, the injured and all the German people. Violence must have no place in our democracies."

UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “I am horrified by the atrocious attack in Magdeburg tonight.

“My thoughts are with the victims, their families and all those affected.“We stand with the people of Germany.”

England captain and Bayern Munich star Harry Kane took to X and wrote: “Hearing news of the tragedy in Magdeburg puts things in perspective and on nights like this football isn’t what’s most important.

“My thoughts and condolences are with all those affected by the horrific tragedy.”

Magdeburg resident Dorin Steffen told dpa that she was at a concert in a nearby church when she heard the sirens. The cacophony was so loud "you had to assume that something terrible had happened", she said.

She called the attack "a dark day" for the city.

"We are shaking," Ms Steffen said. "Full of sympathy for the relatives, also in the hope that nothing has happened to our relatives, friends and acquaintances."

The attack reverberated far beyond Magdeburg, with Mr Haseloff calling it a catastrophe for the city, state and country. He said flags would be lowered to half-staff in Saxony-Anhalt and that the federal government planned to do the same.

"It is really one of the worst things one can imagine, particularly in connection with what a Christmas market should bring," the governor said.