On Friday evening, a man ploughed a car into a crowd of shoppers at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg. The attack killed five people, including a nine-year-old child, and left more than 200 injured, with many in a critical condition. One man has been arrested and is currently being questioned, German authorities confirm. Police believe he acted alone.
At 19:02 local time, the first call to emergency services was made. The caller reported that a car had driven into a crowd at a Christmas market in the middle of town. The caller assumed it was an accident, but it soon became clear this wasn’t the case.
The driver, police said, used traffic lights to turn off the road and onto a pedestrian crossing, leading him through an entry point to the market which was reserved for emergency vehicles, injuring a number of people on the way. Unverified footage on social media showed the driver speeding the vehicle through a pedestrian walkway between Christmas stalls. Eyewitnesses described jumping out of the car’s path, fleeing or hiding.
Police said the driver then returned to the road the way he came in and was forced to stop in traffic. Officers already at the market were able to apprehend and arrest the driver there. Footage showed armed police confronting and arresting a man who can be seen lying on the ground next to a stationary vehicle – a black BMW with significant damage to its front bumper and windscreen. The entire incident was over in three minutes, police said.
A nine-year-old child and four adults are confirmed to have died in the attack. More than 200 people have been injured and at least 41 of those are in a critical condition. The motive behind the attack remains unclear but authorities believe the suspect acted alone.
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