A crime scene investigator arrives at the scene after a man killed five and injured 200 by driving a car into a crowd at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, on Friday evening. Photo by Filip Singer/EPA-EFE
The death toll rose to five Saturday with 200 injured and could rise higher from Friday’s evening’s Christmas market car attack in Magdeburg, Germany.
Among the dead is a toddler after a man identified as a 50-year-old from Saudi Arabia who has lived in Germany since 2006 drove his car into a group of people at about 7 p.m. local time, authorities said. On Friday, the death toll was reported at two. Advertisement
“What a terrible act it is to injure and kill so many people there with such brutality,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told media. “Almost 40 are so seriously injured that we must be very worried about them.”
Scholz and German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser traveled to Magdeburg to attend a memorial service at the city’s cathedral Saturday evening.
German media have identified the suspect as Taleb A. and withheld his last name as required by Germany’s privacy laws. He is in custody.
The suspect is a doctor who specializes in psychiatry and psychotherapy and renounced his Muslim faith years ago, NPR reported.
The suspect criticized Islam and congratulated those who left the religion’s social media posts. Advertisement
He also criticized German authorities for not doing more to stop what he called the “Islamism of Europe” and has helped Saudi women leave the Middle East.
NPR described him as a supporter of the “far-right and anti-immigrant” Alternative for Germany political party.
German police continue investigating the attack and so far say the suspect acted alone.
Magdeburg has about 240,000 residents and is the capital of Saxony-Anhalt, which is west of Berlin.
A Christmas market is a local gathering place where Germans can celebrate the annual holiday.
“There is no more peaceful, more joyous place in Germany than Christmas markets when people come together ahead of the Christmas festival and spend some time together, drink mulled wine, have a sausage together to relax together,” Scholz told media.
He urged Germans to stay united and promised the perpetrator would be punished.
Scholz said investigators are working to determine the motive for the attack and will punish the suspect with the “full weight of the law.”
Germany has experienced several other attacks in recent years, including a knife attack earlier this year that killed three and wounded eight during a festival celebrating the anniversary of the founding of the city of Solingen in August. Advertisement
An Islamic terrorist similarly drove a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin eight years ago, which killed 13 and injured many more.
That man was killed in a shootout in Italy several days after that attack.
