Two dead as car ploughs into Christmas market crowd in Germany

The driver involved in the ramming has been taken into custody, with officials calling the incident an attack.

At least two people are dead and as many as 68 injured after a car rammed into a crowded Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg, part of the central German state of Saxony-Anhalt.

Officials on Friday night described the incident as an intentional attack and announced the driver has been taken into custody.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was among the many offering their condolences in the immediate aftermath.

“My thoughts are with the victims and their families,” Scholz wrote on the social media platform X.

“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.”

The interior minister for Saxony-Anhalt, Tamara Zieschang, identified the suspect as a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia who arrived in Germany in 2006.

Another state official, Premier Reiner Haseloff, told a local television outlet that one of the dead included a child.

“This is a terrible event, particularly now in the days before Christmas,” Haseloff told the news outlet dpa.

Among the injured, 15 were identified as being in critical condition, according to the city government’s website. Another 37 people had injuries of medium severity and 16 were lightly injured.

Local media reports indicate the car involved was seen to be driving at high speeds, before striking the crowd at around 7pm local time (18:00 GMT).

More details to follow.

Source

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Al Jazeera and news agencies