New Delhi: At least 2 people have been killed while over 60 suffered injuries after a car ploughed into a crowd at a Christmas market in Germany’s Magdeburg on Friday evening. The death toll is likely to increase as several of the injured are said to be in critical condition. The authorities are not ruling out the terrorism angle in the incident. It has sent shockwaves across the country.
A Saudi national has been arrested by the police from the incident site. He has been identified as 50-year-old Taleb A. A psychiatrist and psychotherapist Taleb has been living in Germany since 2006. He was granted refugee status in 2016 and has been living in Bernburg. According to authorities, the BMW car involved in the attack was rented by the accused and had a Munich license plate.
Here’s the horrible CCTV video of the terrorist attack in Germany. A lorry driver rammed into the market to hurt people. pic.twitter.com/BjLuCNCCJM
— Olu 🕊️ (@empror24) December 21, 2024
Authorities are calling the attack, a deliberate act
The authorities are calling the attack, a deliberate act. The market was bustling with shoppers, when the speeding car ploughed into them. According to reports, the attacker do not have any known links to any terror groups. The exact reasons behind the attack is still not clear. Taleb worked as a consultant in psychiatry and psychotherapy in Bernburg.
The incident has drawn comparisons to another attack in Germany. In 2016, a truck rammed into a Christmas market resulting in the death of 13 people.
Saudi Arabia expresses solidarity with German people
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry condemned the incident, expressing solidarity with the German people and the families of the victims. “The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia condemns the incident and stands with the German people in their time of grief,” the statement said.
#Statement | The Foreign Ministry expresses the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s condemnation of the incident that took place in a market in the city of Magdeburg in the Federal Republic of Germany in which a car plowed into crowds, resulting in the death and injury of a number of… pic.twitter.com/Ozc85f0GpZ
— Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) December 21, 2024
The authorities in Germany are still piecing together the details of the attack, with police in Magdeburg confirming that the driver acted alone and there is no immediate threat to the public. Saxony-Anhalt’s Governor, Reiner Haseloff, assured the public that “as far as we know, there is no further danger to the city”.
