A car drove into a crowd at a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg, leaving at least two people dead and more than 50 others injured.
The tragic incident, which occurred on the evening of 20 December 2024, is said to have included the death of a young child, according to regional governor Reiner Haseloff.
Haseloff claimed that the suspected driver is a 50-year-old Saudi Arabian citizen who arrived in Germany in 2006 and had worked as a doctor.
A video of the incident, verified by local media, has circulated widely on social media. The footage shows the moment the car drives into the crowd. Some viewers may find the graphic content distressing.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his concern about the incident and expressed his condolences.
"The reports from Magdeburg suggest something bad. My thoughts are with the victims and their families. We stand by them and the people of Magdeburg," Scholz wrote in a post on social media platform X.
Security authorities are treating the incident as a ‘deliberate act’, though initial reports suggest that the driver had no known connections to Islamic extremism.
Video footage from the scene shows the immediate aftermath, with multiple people wounded.
In recent years there had been widespread concerns over public safety, particularly around Germany’s Christmas markets.
Less than a month ago, on 28 November, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser had called for ‘great vigilance’ at such events, citing a general but unspecified threat.
While no concrete evidence of an imminent attack had been identified, Faeser stressed the importance of maintaining strict security measures, including a knife ban.
She reassured the public that security authorities were monitoring all potential threat.