The driver involved in the ramming was taken into custody and officers described the incident as an assault.
At least two people have died and up to 68 were injured after a car rammed into a crowded Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg in the central German state of Saxony-Anhalt.
Officials described the incident Friday evening as a premeditated assault and announced that the driver was taken into custody.
Among the many who expressed their condolences immediately afterwards was Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
“My thoughts are with the victims and their families,” said Scholz wrote on the social media platform X.
“We stand by your side and by the people of Magdeburg. My thanks go to the dedicated rescue workers in these anxious hours.”
The Interior Minister of Saxony-Anhalt, Tamara Zieschang, identified the suspect as a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia who came to Germany in 2006.
Another state official, Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff, told a local television station that a child was among the dead.
“This is a terrible event, especially now in the run-up to Christmas,” Haseloff told the dpa news agency.
According to the city government’s website, 15 of the injured were in critical condition. Another 37 people suffered moderate injuries and 16 were slightly injured.
According to local media reports, the car involved was traveling at high speed before plowing into the crowd around 7:00 p.m. local time (6:00 p.m. GMT).
More details to follow.
