At least 2 dead after car ploughs 400m into crowded Christmas market in Germany

A car crashed into a throng at a Germay Christmas market, killing at least two people, including a youngster. According to local authorities, the suspect was a 50-year-old Saudi doctor.At 7:04 p.m. on Friday, a dark BMW drove 400 meters straight through the crowded "Fairy Tale" area of the Magdeburg market, injuring at least 68 tourists. Anhalt Reiner Haseloff, the premier of the state of Saxony, told n-tv television that a little child was among the deceased.Saxony-Anhalt’s interior minister, Tamara Zieschang, told reporters that the suspect is a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who first came to Germany in 2006.“As things stand, he is a lone perpetrator, so that as far as we know there is no further danger to the city,” Saxony-Anhalt’s governor, Reiner Haseloff, said at a news conference, Daily Dazzling Dawn understand.

He was not known to German authorities as an Islamic extremist, the dpa agency reported, citing unidentified security officials.Mr Haseloff said the two people who were confirmed to have died were an adult and a small child, but that he could not rule out further deaths because so many people were seriously injured.

“But that is speculation now. Every human life that has fallen victim to this attack is a terrible tragedy and one human life too many,” he said.“It’s a terrible tragedy - this is a catastrophe for the city of Magdeburg and for the state, and for Germany generally as well,” Mr Haseloff said.

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

An eyewitness told the Mitteldeutsche Zeitung that the car “drove into the ‘Fairy Tale’ area of the Magdeburg Christmas market” full of families at the time.

She and her child were able to jump out of the car’s path as it sped through.

A stallholder said that the driver raced directly past his burger stand describing the aftermath as “war-like”.A police spokesman told Bild it’s still unclear whether the attack was carried out by a lone perpetrator.

The car, described as a dark BMW by witnesses, drove “at least 400 metres” through the Christmas market sending people flying into the air before coming to halt.

The driver could be seen being arrested.

Shocking CCTV footage shows the moment a dark car speeds through the densely packed marketplace sending bodies flying into the air.City spokesperson Michael Reif said he suspected it was a deliberate act.

“The pictures are terrible,” he said. “My information is that a car drove into the Christmas market visitors, but I can’t yet say from what direction and how far.”German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who will visit the scene on Saturday, posted on X: “The reports from Magdeburg suggest something terrible is to come. 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.”

“This is a terrible event, particularly now in the days before Christmas,” Saxony-Anhalt governor Reiner Haseloff said.Video on social media shows a number of people laying on the ground and emergency services in attendance.

An “extensive police operation” is underway and the market was closed, according to local authorities.

Magdeburg, which is west of Berlin, is the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt and has about 240,000 inhabitants.German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser had said late last month that there were no concrete indications of a danger to Christmas markets this year, but that it was wise to be vigilant.

Starmer condemns ‘atrocious attack’ on German Christmas market

Sir Keir Starmer has said he is “horrified” by the “atrocious attack” in the German city of Magdeburg.