5 Dead, 205 Injured in Germany After Man Plows Car Into Christmas Market

Emergency services work in a cordoned-off area near a Christmas Market, after an incident in Magdeburg, Germany, on Dec. 20, 2024. Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo

A male rammed his car into a crowded Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg on Friday, killing at least 5 people and injuring 205 others.

The driver of the car has been arrested, reported DPA, Germany’s national news agency. While city and state officials have described the incident as an attack, police have yet to confirm whether it was intentional.

The suspect is a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who moved to Germany in 2006, according to Tamara Zieschang, the interior minister for the state of Saxony-Anhalt. He has been practicing medicine in Bernburg, about 23 miles south of Magdeburg, Zieschang said at a news conference.

Saxony-Anhalt’s governor, Reiner Haseloff, told reporters, “As things stand, he is a lone perpetrator, so that as far as we know there is no further danger to the city.”

Government officials and the city government’s website said 41 of the injured were seriously hurt and warned that the death toll could rise.

Haseloff said in an initial briefing on the attack that the two of the deaths were an adult and a toddler. The toddler was later confirmed to be a 9-year-old child.

“Every human life that has fallen victim to this attack is a terrible tragedy and one human life too many,” he said.

Magdeburg, located west of Berlin, is the capital of the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt and home to around 240,000 residents.

“This is a terrible event, especially now in the days before Christmas,” Haseloff told MDR, a regional public broadcast service.

German security agencies have been on alert for the possibility of terror attacks on Christmas markets.

“Our whole country mourns with Magdeburg. It is terrible how many people were killed and injured with unbelievable brutality here at a happy Christmas market,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on X. “I wish all the victims and their families strength and a speedy recovery in body and soul.”

Magdeburg Mayor Simone Borris expressed her sympathy to the victims. “I am shocked, deeply affected and my heart goes out to the victims and their families. We will create an opportunity in front of the west portal of St. John’s Church to pause and mourn and lay flowers in the immediate vicinity of the crime scene.

“I could never have imagined that Magdeburg could be affected by such an act,” she said.

President Joe Biden extended his condolences.

“No community—and no family—should have to endure such a despicable and dark event, especially just days before a holiday of joy and peace,” Biden said in a statement. “My team has been in close touch with German officials. We’ve made it clear that the United States stands ready to offer all available resources and assistance if needed.”

In late November, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said while that there were no indications of a “concrete” threat to Christmas markets this year, it was wise to stay vigilant.

On Dec. 19, 2016, in Berlin, an Islamic terrorist tore his vehicle through a crowd of Christmas market-goers, leaving 13 people dead and dozens more injured. Amri, who had come to Germany as an asylum seeker in 2015 after having spent several years in prison in Italy, managed to flee back to Italy, where he was killed on Dec. 23 in a shootout with local police.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.