On Friday night, a person crashed a automotive right into a crowd of buyers at a Christmas market within the German metropolis of Magdeburg.
The assault killed 5 individuals, together with a nine-year-old boy, and left greater than 200 injured, lots of them in important situation.
A decide has ordered the pre-trial detention of a 50-year-old man arrested on suspicion of finishing up the assault.
Police consider he acted alone.
How did the assault happen?
At 19:02 native time (18:02 GMT), the primary name to emergency companies was made.
The caller reported {that a} automotive had pushed into crowds at a Christmas market within the metropolis centre.
The caller thought it was an accident, police mentioned, however it quickly turned clear that was not the case.
The driver, police mentioned, had used the site visitors lights to veer off the street and right into a pedestrian crossing, main him by way of a market entry level reserved for emergency autos, injuring a number of individuals alongside the best way.
Unverified footage on social media confirmed the motive force rushing the car by way of a pedestrian crossing between Christmas stalls.
Eyewitnesses described leaping out of the best way of the automotive, working away or hiding.
Police mentioned the motive force then returned to the street he had entered and was pressured to cease in site visitors. Officers already on the market managed to seize and arrest the motive force right here.
The footage confirmed armed police confronting and arresting a person who might be seen mendacity on the bottom subsequent to a stationary car – a black BMW with important harm to the entrance bumper and windshield.
The complete incident was over in three minutes, police mentioned.
Who are the victims?
A nine-year-old boy and 4 ladies aged 45, 52, 67 and 75 had been confirmed to have died within the assault.
More than 200 individuals had been injured and at the least 41 of them are in important situation.
The toll had beforehand been reported as two lifeless and 68 injured, however was revised to a lot greater totals on Saturday morning.
None of the victims have but been recognized.
Who is the suspect?
The suspect was recognized in native media stories as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, the BBC has realized.
He is a 50-year-old psychiatrist of Saudi origin who lives in Bernburg, about 40 km (25 miles) south of Magdeburg.
He was remanded in custody on suspicion of 5 counts of homicide, a number of tried murders and harmful bodily hurt, police say.
The motive for the assault isn’t but clear, however authorities have mentioned they consider he carried out the assault alone.
Al-Abdulmohsen arrived in Germany in 2006 and was acknowledged as a refugee in 2016.
The suspect ran an internet site aimed toward serving to different ex-Muslims escape persecution of their Gulf homelands, and was interviewed about it by the BBC in 2019.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser instructed reporters it was “clear to see” that the suspect holds “Islamophobic” views.
On social media he’s an outspoken critic of Islam and has promoted conspiracy theories concerning an alleged plot by German authorities to Islamize Europe.
He additionally expressed sympathy on social media for Germany’s far-right political occasion, Alternative for Germany (AfD), retweeting posts from the occasion’s chief and a far-right activist.
Magdeburg Police Chief Tom-Oliver Langhans mentioned police had beforehand carried out an evaluation to find out whether or not the suspect might pose a possible risk, “however that dialogue was a yr in the past.”
Faeser instructed German newspaper Bild that investigators would study “intimately” what info authorities had about al-Abdulmohsen prior to now and the way he had been investigated.
The German Office for Immigration and Refugees introduced in a social media put up that it had filed a criticism towards the suspect, which it had “taken severely”, however as a result of the workplace isn’t an investigative physique, it had referred the complainant to different authorities.
A tip-off obtained by authorities is believed to have come from Saudi Arabian authorities.
A supply near the Saudi authorities instructed the BBC that it had despatched 4 official notifications referred to as “Verbal Notes” to German authorities, warning them of what they mentioned had been “very excessive views” held by al-Abdulmohsen.
However, a counter-terrorism skilled instructed the BBC that the Saudis could have mounted a disinformation marketing campaign to discredit somebody who tried to assist younger Saudi ladies search asylum in Germany.
The head of the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), Holger Münch, instructed public broadcaster ZDF that his workplace obtained a notification from Saudi Arabia in November 2023. He mentioned the native police had taken applicable investigative measures , however the query isn’t particular.
He added that the suspect “had a number of contacts with the authorities, insulted them and even threatened them, however was not recognized for violent acts.”
ReutersWhat did officers say concerning the assault?
“The stories from Magdeburg elevate the worst fears,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz mentioned on the social media platform
Magdeburg metropolis councilor for public order Ronni Krug mentioned the Christmas market would stay closed and that “Christmas in Magdeburg is over,” in line with German public broadcaster MDR.
This sentiment was echoed available on the market’s web site, which following the assault featured solely a black display with phrases of mourning, asserting that the market was over.
The Saudi authorities expressed “solidarity with the German individuals and the households of the victims,” in an announcement on X, and “affirmed its rejection of violence.”
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer mentioned he was “horrified by the atrocious assault in Magdeburg”, including that his ideas had been with “the victims, their households and all these affected” in a put up on X on Friday night.
