- The regional premier says the man was “a lone attacker, a 50-year-old doctor.”
- BMW makes its way through the crowd at high speed when the market was full.
- Police say the vehicle traveled “at least 400 meters through the Christmas market.”
MAGDEBURG: German police arrested a man from Saudi Arabia after a deadly car attack at a Christmas market on Friday in which a van plowed into a crowd of revelers at high speed, leaving a trail of bloody carnage.
At least two people were killed, one of them a small child, and 68 were injured, authorities in the city of Magdeburg, located about 130 kilometers (80 miles) southwest of Berlin, said.
The suspect was a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who lived in the eastern state of Saxony-Anhalt, regional Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff said, in a location cordoned off and guarded by police commandos.
“We have arrested the perpetrator, a man from Saudi Arabia, a doctor who has been in Germany since 2006,” he told reporters, calling the attack a “catastrophe” for the city and the country.
“From what we currently know, he was a lone attacker, so we don’t believe there is any further danger.”
German media partially identified the suspect as Taleb A and said he was a doctor of psychiatry.
The black BMW sped through the crowd shortly after 7:00 pm local time (1800 GMT), when the market was packed with revelers.
Video footage showed the driver being arrested as police with their guns pointed shouted “lie down, hands behind your back, don’t move!” to the bearded, bespectacled man lying on the ground next to the badly damaged car.
Police said the vehicle traveled “at least 400 meters through the Christmas market” leaving a trail of bloodied victims, debris and broken glass in the city’s central square at City Hall.
Ambulances and fire trucks rushed to the chaotic scene, which was illuminated by blue police lights and sirens, while seriously injured people were treated at the scene and rushed to hospitals.
Screams and screams could be heard as about 100 first responders fanned out at the trash-filled market, decorated with Christmas trees and festive lights.
“The images are terrible,” said city spokesman Michael Reif.
