⭐ Start off 2025 with a powerful boost to your portfolio: January’s freshest AI-picked stocksUnlock stocks

Driver kills at least two after ramming into crowd at German Christmas market

Published 12/20/2024, 02:15 PM
Updated 12/20/2024, 11:36 PM
© Reuters. Members of police work at a Christmas market after a car drove into a group of people, according to local media, in Magdeburg, Germany, December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt

© Reuters. Members of police work at a Christmas market after a car drove into a group of people, according to local media, in Magdeburg, Germany, December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Axel Schmidt

By Andrey Sychev and Tanya Wood

(Reuters) -A driver rammed a car into a large crowd of revellers at a Christmas market in central Germany on Friday evening, killing at least two people and injuring more than 60 before he was arrested, authorities said.

One of the dead was a young child, said Reiner Haseloff, premier of the state of Saxony-Anhalt. The incident took place in Magdeburg, the state capital, 150 km (90 miles) west of Berlin.

"It is a catastrophe for the city of Magdeburg, for the state and for Germany in general," Haseloff said, adding that the death toll could rise given the severity of some of the injuries.

Haseloff described the attacker as a 50-year-old male doctor from Saudi Arabia with permanent residency in Germany, where he had lived for almost two decades.

"As things stand at the moment, we are talking about a lone offender, which means that there is no further danger to the city because we were able to arrest him."

The motive was unclear. The suspect was not known to German authorities as an Islamist, according to local broadcaster MDR.

A Saudi source told Reuters the kingdom had warned German authorities about the attacker, who the source said had posted extremist views on his personal X account.

The source identified the suspect as Taleb Abdul Jawad. Germany's Der Spiegel identified the attacker as Taleb A., a specialist in psychiatry and psychotherapy who sympathised with Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany party. The magazine did not say where it got the information.

3rd party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Investing.com. See disclosure here or remove ads.

Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry condemned the attack.

Following the incident, police cleared an area surrounding the vehicle to investigate a possible explosive device, local broadcaster MDR reported. It later cited police as saying that no such device had been found.

A police operation was also under way in the town of Bernburg, south of Magdeburg, where the suspect is believed to have lived, local newspaper Mitteldeutsche Zeitung reported.

Police were not immediately available to comment on the reports of a suspicious item or the operation in Bernburg.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who sent his thoughts to those affected in a post on social media platform X, is expected to visit the scene on Saturday with Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.

As news of the attack broke, Elon Musk, the billionaire allied with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, criticised Scholz and called on him to resign.

A video posted on social media from a position above the market shows a car driving at speed through a crowd walking between two rows of market stalls. People can be seen knocked to the ground and running away. Reuters was able to verify the location, with the trees, outline and design of the buildings matching file and satellite imagery of the area.

Footage from a local broadcaster showed people wrapped in blankets on the ground receiving care in the wake of the attack.

Bild newspaper quoted a witness identified only as Nadine saying she had been walking arm-in-arm with her boyfriend, Marco, when the car came hurtling towards them.

3rd party Ad. Not an offer or recommendation by Investing.com. See disclosure here or remove ads.

"He was hit and ripped away from my side," Bild cited her as saying, adding that he had been injured on his leg and head and taken to hospital but she did not know where to find him.

"The uncertainty is unbearable," she told Bild.

Late last month, Faeser advised people to be vigilant at Christmas markets, which have been a particular focus of security services as a potential target for extremist attacks.

Eight years ago, Anis Amri, a failed Tunisian asylum seeker with Islamist links, rammed a truck into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring dozens of others.

Which stock should you buy in your very next trade?

AI computing powers are changing the stock market. Investing.com's ProPicks AI includes 6 winning stock portfolios chosen by our advanced AI. In 2024 alone, ProPicks AI identified 2 stocks that surged over 150%, 4 additional stocks that leaped over 30%, and 3 more that climbed over 25%. Which stock will be the next to soar?

Unlock ProPicks AI

Latest comments

Loading next article…
Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2025 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.