The death toll in a car-ramming attack at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg has risen to five people, and more than 200 have been injured, many of them seriously, state premier Reiner Haseloff said on Saturday.
Those killed were a nine-year-old child and four adults, Magdeburg city official Ronni Krug said, adding that some 41 of the injured had either serious or critical injuries.
The BBC reported that the Magdeburg Municipal Hospital's medical director said that over 80 people were treated yesterday.
"Some patients had to undergo emergency surgery, some are now in intensive care,” he said, as reported by the BBC.
The driver has since been arrested, according to multiple German media reports. Police said the driver drove "at least 400 meters across the Christmas market" through the crowds in three minutes.
Prosecutors expect to charge the suspect with murder and attempted murder, the head of the local prosecutor's office said on Saturday.
Details of the attack
German newspaper Welt published that the driver was a doctor from Saudi Arabia and is approximately 50 years old. He is a psychiatrist who has lived in Germany for 18 years, Reuters reported.
Welt also claimed the driver had a number of suitcases with him, and police were searching to see if any contained explosive materials. No explosives were found in the driver's belongings.
A video posted on social media from a position above the market shows a car driving at speed through a crowd walking between two rows of market stalls. People can be seen knocked to the ground and running away. Reuters was able to verify the location, with the trees, outline and design of the buildings matching file and satellite imagery of the area.
Emergency services set up tents to care for the wounded, while 10-20 have reportedly arrived at Magdeburg University Hospital for emergency treatment.
The spokesperson for Magdeburg, located some 150 kilometers (93 miles) south-west of Berlin, said the incident appeared to be a deliberate attack.
Footage from a local broadcaster showed people wrapped in blankets on the ground receiving care in the wake of the attack.
Bild newspaper quoted a witness named only as Nadine saying she had been walking arm-in-arm with her boyfriend, Marco, when the car came hurtling towards them.
"He was hit and ripped away from my side," Bild cited her as saying, adding that he had been injured on his leg and head and taken to hospital, but she did not know where to find him.
"The uncertainty is unbearable," she told Bild.
Anti-Islam activist
The motive for the attack remains unclear, but the suspect's dissatisfaction with Germany's treatment of Saudi refugees may have played a role, the prosecutor in the central city of Magdeburg told a press conference following Friday's attack.
Germany's FAZ newspaper said it interviewed the suspect in 2019, describing him as an anti-Islam activist.
"People like me, who have an Islamic background but are no longer believers, are met with neither understanding nor tolerance by Muslims here," he was quoted as saying. "I am history's most aggressive critic of Islam. If you don't believe me, ask the Arabs."
German media has not yet named the suspect, and refers to him as Taleb A.
The suspect arrested in connection with a deadly car-ramming attack at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg was Islamophobic, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told reporters on Saturday.
"This was clear to see," Faeser said.
The minister declined to elaborate on the man's political affiliations.
A Saudi source told Reuters that Saudi Arabia had warned German authorities about the suspect after he posted extremist views on his X account that threatened peace and security.
A German security source said Saudi authorities had sent several tips in 2023 and 2024 and that these had been passed on to the relevant security authorities.
A risk assessment conducted last year by German state and federal criminal investigators came to the conclusion that the man posed "no specific danger," the Welt newspaper reported, citing security sources.
Germany's domestic and foreign intelligence agencies both declined to comment on the investigation. The state and federal criminal investigation offices did not respond to Reuters' request for comment.
Local reactions
"What a terrible act it is to injure and kill so many people with such brutality," German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said during a visit to the city, where he laid a white rose at a church.
"I'd like to express the solidarity of the entire country," he said.
Scholz said the Magdeburg events "suggest something terrible."
"My thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones," he wrote on X/Twitter in German on Friday. "We stand by them and the people of Magdeburg. My thanks go to the dedicated rescue teams during these anxious hours."
Premier of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Reiner Haseloff, added that the event was a shocking tragedy.
"It is a catastrophe for the city of Magdeburg, for the state and for Germany in general," Reiner Haseloff, premier of the state of Saxony-Anhalt said, adding that the death toll could rise given the severity of some of the injuries.
Hasseloff said that it was "astonishing, unimaginable, that something like this could happen in Germany," at a Saturday press conference, according to the BBC.
"This is a terrible event, especially now in the days before Christmas," Haseloff told MDR, adding that he was on his way to Magdeburg.
"As things stand at the moment, we are talking about a lone offender, which means that there is no further danger to the city because we were able to arrest him," Hasseloff said on Friday after the attack.
German citizens set up a memorial filled with flowers, candles, and stuffed animals at St John's Church, near the scene of the attack. A vigil was held last night at Magdeburg Cathedral.
Germany's Christmas markets
Christmas markets have been eyed as potential target sites by terrorists in Germany for some time. Only two weeks ago, German authorities arrested an Iraqi national suspected of targeting a Christmas market.
Last year, Christmas markets in Germany and Austria were put on high alert for fears of a potential attack.
In 2016, a truck rammed into a Christmas market in Berlin killing 12 people and wounding 48.
International reactions
Saudi Arabia condemned the ramming attack, the Gulf country's foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday.
Saudi Arabia's statement made no mention of the suspect, who is of Saudi origin.
US billionaire Elon Musk, set to join President-elect Donald Trump's administration as an outside adviser, called on German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to resign after the incident.
"Scholz should resign immediately," Musk posted on X, adding: "Incompetent fool."
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar condemned the incident and confirmed that he contacted German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in a post on X/Twitter on Saturday.
"Shocking images from Magdeburg, Germany last night," he wrote. "Israel stands with the German people in their mourning and offers any assistance required."
US President Joe Biden said on Saturday his team has been "in close touch" with German officials following the attack.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated her "utmost solidarity with the German people," the BBC reported.
"It's not the first time this has happened - it's not the first time this has happened around Christmas," she told reporters. "This is an issue we have been dealing with for years. We must be careful about how we manage our policies, including how we ensure the safety of our citizens."
This is a developing story.