Five killed in German Christmas market car-ramming

More than 200 people were injured in the attack in which a Saudi suspect was arrested

MAGDEBURG, GERMANY - DECEMBER 20: Police vans and ambulances stand next to the annual Christmas market in the city center following a possible terror incident on December 20, 2024 in Magdeburg, Germany. According to initial reports at least one person is dead and dozens injured after a car drove into the crowded Christmas market. Police reportedly arrested the driver. (Photo by Craig Stennett / Getty Images)

A man drove his car into a crowd of revellers at Magdeburg's central town hall square, killing at least two people and injuring more than 60. AP

Emergency personnel at the Christmas market treated people for injuries. Reuters

Police officers guard the Christmas market crime scene. AP

Police said the vehicle drove at least 400 metres across the Christmas market. AP

The sounds of sirens from first responders at the Magdeburg site clashed with the market’s holiday mood. AP

An ambulance races to a hospital in Magdeburg. AFP

The Madgeburg Christmas market after the crash. Reuters

The sounds of sirens from first responders at the Magdeburg site clashed with the market’s holiday mood. AP

Rescuers and ambulances near tents housing injured people. AFP

A police officer stands guard at a cordoned-off area near the Christmas market. AP

Rescuers hug each other at the scene. AFP

At least five people were killed and more than 200 injured in a car-ramming attack at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg, officials said, and a Saudi man was arrested on suspicion of driving into the crowd.

The Friday evening attack on the market comes amid a fierce debate over security and migration during an election campaign in Germany, where the far right is polling strongly.

"What a terrible act it is to injure and kill so many people ... with such brutality," Chancellor Olaf Scholz said as he laid a white rose in honour of the victims at a church in the city.

"We have now learnt that over 200 people have been injured," he added. "Almost 40 are so seriously injured that we must be very worried about them."

German authorities are investigating a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who has lived in Germany for almost two decades in connection with the attack. Police searched his home overnight.

The motive remained unclear and police have not yet named the suspect, although he has been named in German media as Taleb A.

A Saudi source told Reuters that Saudi Arabia had warned German authorities about the attacker after he posted extremist views on his personal X account that threatened peace and security.

Der Spiegel reported that the suspect had sympathised with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. It did not say where it got the information.

Germany's domestic intelligence agency declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.

The Saudi suspect is considered to hold "Islamophobic" views, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said on Saturday. She said that while she did not want to speculate about the motive, "the one thing" she could confirm was that he had expressed an "Islamophobic" stance.

Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 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."

Magdeburg, 130km south-west of Berlin, is the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt and has about 240,000 residents.

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that "the anticipation of a peaceful Christmas was suddenly interrupted" by the tragedy. French President Emmanuel Macron said he was "profoundly shocked" and he "shares the pain of the German people".

But the leader of the far-right anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany, Alice Weidel, wrote on X: "When will this madness stop?"

Eight years ago a Christmas market in Berlin was attacked. On December 19, 2016, an Islamist extremist ploughed through the crowded market with a lorry, killing 13 and injuring dozens more. The attacker was killed days later in a shoot-out in Italy.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser 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.