Police have arrested a 50-year-old man after a car ploughed into a busy outdoor Christmas market in Magdeburg on Friday evening, with killing at least five people and injuring 200 others.
A toddler is among the dead, officials confirmed on Friday evening.
Footage showed the vehicle breaking through barriers before speeding 400 metres through the crammed “fairytale-like” Magdeburg market.
Here is everything we know about the suspect
Who is the suspect?
The suspect is a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia who first came to Germany in 2006, authorities confirmed.
He has been named by German media as Taleb A. and has reportedly shown support for Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany party.
A Saudi source told Reuters that the kingdom had warned German authorities about the attacker, who the source said had posted extremist views on his personal X account.
He was recognised as a refugee in 2016 and is a consultant for psychiatry and psychotherapy in the nearby town of Bernburg.
On Saturday, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told reporters that the suspect was clearly Islamophobic.
The vehicle, a black BMW, was pictured smashed up at the scene behind a police cordon. Officials believe the suspect acted alone. Verified bystander footage showed the suspect’s arrest at a tram stop in the middle of the road.
“As things stand, he is a lone perpetrator, so that as far as we know there is no further danger to the city,” Haseloff, said at a news conference.
German public broadcaster MDR previously reported that police suspected there could be explosives in the suspect’s car, but police later confirmed none were found after closer inspection.
Follow our live coverage of the incident here
How many people have died?
At least five people were killed in the shocking incident, authorities confirmed. One of those killed was a young child.
Authorities confirmed on Saturday that 200 people have been injured, including 40 very seriously.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz, expressed concern about the condition of those injured. He told reporters. “Almost 40 are so seriously injured that we must be very worried about them.”
Saxony-Anhalt’s governor Reiner Haseloff told reporters earlier that additional deaths could not be ruled out due to the number of people injured.
