Two killed after car collides with Christmas market crowd in Germany. crime news
The driver who caused the collision has been taken into custody, with officials calling the incident an assault.
At least two people have been killed and more than 68 injured after a car plowed into a crowded Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg, part of the central German state of Saxony-Anhalt.
Authorities on Friday night described the incident as a deliberate attack and announced that the driver had been taken into custody.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was among those to express his condolences in the immediate aftermath.
“My thoughts are with the victims and their families,” Scholz wrote on the social media platform X.
“We stand on his side and on the side of the people of Magdeburg. My thanks to the dedicated rescue workers in these worrying hours.
Saxony-Anhalt’s interior minister, Tamara Zieschang, identified the suspect as a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia who came to Germany in 2006.
Another state official, Premier Rainer Hasselhoff, told a local television outlet that a child was among the dead.
“This is a terrible incident, especially in the days before Christmas,” Haseloff told news outlet dpa.
According to the city government’s website, the condition of 15 of the injured is reported to be serious. Another 37 people suffered injuries of moderate severity and 16 were slightly injured.
Local media reports indicated that the car was seen driving at high speed, before striking the crowd at 7 pm local time (18:00 GMT).
More details to follow.
