The violence shocked Germany and the city, prompting several other German towns to cancel their weekend Christmas markets as a precaution, and out of solidarity with Magdeburg’s loss. Berlin kept its markets open but has increased its police presence at them.
read more
The Christmas market, where a car drove into a crowd on Friday evening, in Magdeburg, Germany, is empty on Saturday evening , Dec. 21, 2024. Image- AP
President Joe Biden issued his condolences on Saturday following an attack at a Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg that left five people dead and more than 200 injured.
“No community—and no family—should have to endure such a despicable and dark event, especially just days before a holiday of joy and peace,” Biden said as reported by The Hill.
Five people were killed, including a 9-year-old, after a Saudi doctor drove into a Christmas market teeming with holiday shoppers in the German city of Magdeburg, officials said Saturday, as people mourned the victims and their shaken sense of security.
City official Ronni Krug didn’t provide further information on the adults killed in the attack on Friday night. He said 200 people were injured, of whom 41 were in serious or very serious condition.
How did the attack unfold?
Thi Linh Chi Nguyen, a 34-year-old manicurist from Vietnam — whose salon is located in a mall across the Christmas market — was on the phone during a break when she heard loud bangs and thought at first they were fireworks. She then saw a car drive through the market at high speed. People screamed and a child was thrown into the air by the car.
The woman recalled seeing the car bursting out of the market and turning right onto Ernst-Reuter-Allee street and then coming to a standstill at the tram stop where the suspect was arrested.
The market itself was still cordoned off Saturday with red-and-white tape and police vans every 50 meters (yards). Police with machine pistols guarded every entry to the market. Some thermal security blankets still lay on the street.
Who’s the man behind the attack?
Prosecutors said the suspect, a 50-year-old Saudi doctor, is under investigation on suspicion of murder, attempted murder and bodily harm.
Several German media outlets identified the suspect as Taleb A., withholding his las