At least two people, including a small child, were killed and 68 were injured after a car ploughed into a crowd of people at a Christmas market in eastern Germany. The incident took place on Friday in the German town of Magdeburg. The local authorities are calling it a terror attack as an investigation is currently underway.
According to the city government, out of the 68 people injured in the incident, over 15 were left in a critical state. A black BMW, drove straight into the crowd while travelling at a speed of 400 meters. Multiple videos circulating on social media showed the car ramming several people. However, the authenticity of those videos remains unclear.
According to The Guardian, emergency workers have reached the spot and immediately started treating the accident victims. Makeshift tents have also been erected to provide speedy medical treatment.
The man behind the wheels
The driver of the car was immediately arrested after the incident. The police identified him as a man named Taleb A. The 50-year-old suspect was a doctor from Saudi Arabia who had been living in Germany since 2006. He is a consultant for psychiatry and psychotherapy and was recognised as a refugee in 2016.
“This is a terrible event, particularly now in the days before Christmas,” said Saxony-Anhalt’s leader Reiner Haseloff, who was on his way to Magdeburg. “As things stand, he is a lone perpetrator, so that as far as we know there is no further danger to the city,” he added.
As per the report, the suspect rented a car shortly before the attack and the suspect was not known to authorities as having an Islamist background. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz took to X, formerly known as Twitter to condemn the attack. “The reports from Magdeburg raise the worst fears,” he wrote in the post. The German Chancellor is also due to travel to Magdeburg on Saturday along with Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.
Content retrieved from: https://www.firstpost.com/world/germany-2-killed-several-injured-as-car-rams-into-crowd-at-christmas-market-police-call-it-terror-attack-13846431.html.
