Five died, more than 200 were injured

A 9-year-old child and four adults were killed and more than 200 injured after a car plowed into a crowd at a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg on Friday, officials said.

At least 41 people were seriously injured after the three-minute incident, police said.

The arrested suspect was named in local media as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, 50, a Saudi citizen who came to Germany in 2006 and worked as a doctor.

Reiner Haseloff, the prime minister of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, said that the initial investigation revealed that the suspect acted alone.

He went on to say that he cannot say that many people have died because of the number of injured.

The suspect is currently being interrogated and prosecutors expect to charge him with murder and attempted murder later, said the head of the local prosecutor’s office on Saturday.

Prosecutor Horst Walter Nopens added that the investigation was ongoing but suggested the background of the crime “may have been dissatisfaction with the way Saudi Arabian refugees were treated in Germany”.

The suspect accused of the attack is not known to have any links to the Islamic faith – social media and online postings show he has been critical of Islam.

Pictures taken from the scene showed dozens of emergency vehicles with people lying on the ground.

Then other images emerged of armed policemen confronting and arresting a man who appears to be slumped over in a parked car.

An unverified video on social media purports to show a car plowing through a crowd at a market.

City officials said about 100 police, paramedics and firefighters, as well as 50 rescue workers rushed to the scene.

The suspect is thought to have entered the market through an entrance reserved for emergency vehicles, police said.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who visited the city on Saturday, described the incident as “a terrible tragedy” as many people were injured and killed in such a brutal way in a place that should be “happy”.

He told reporters that there was great concern for those seriously injured – reported by German media in large numbers – and that “every resource” would be given to investigate the suspect behind the attack.

There will be a memorial service for the victims at Magdeburg Cathedral later on Saturday, he added.

In an interview with the German newspaper Bild, Nadine explained that she was at the Christmas market with her boyfriend, Marco, when a car came running towards them.

“He was beaten and removed from my side,” said the 32-year-old man, telling this newspaper. “It was bad.”

Meanwhile, Lars Frohmüller, a reporter for German public broadcaster MDR, told BBC Radio 4’s World Tonight that he saw “blood on the floor” and “many doctors trying to keep people warm and help them with their injuries”.

German media identified the suspect as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen, a psychiatrist who lives in Bernburg, 40km (25 miles) south of Magdeburg.

Originally from Saudi Arabia, he came to Germany in 2006 and in 2016 was recognized as a refugee.

He created a website that aims to help other ex-Muslims fleeing persecution in their Gulf countries.

As evidenced by social media, the suspect is a critic of Islam, and has promoted conspiracy theories about a plot to seek Islamic supremacy in Europe.

A source close to the Saudi government told the BBC that it has sent four official notices known as “Notes Verbal” to German authorities, warning of what they say are “extreme views” held by Taleb Al-Abdulmohsen.

The source, who asked not to be named, said these notices were ignored.

However, one expert with experience in counter-terrorism said that the Saudis may be launching a disinformation campaign to discredit someone who tried to help young Saudi women seek asylum in Germany.

In the past there have been reported cases of Saudi government agents spying on Saudi dissidents living in Germany and Canada and trying to forcibly return them to Saudi Arabia.

When this incident happened, Magdeburg football team was playing against Fortuna Dusseldorf.

After the end of the game, the players of this team united in front of their fans. A statement released by the club said “its thoughts are with those affected by the tragic events and the Magdeburg Christmas market”.

Meanwhile, there was a minute’s silence at the end of the match between Bayern and RB Leipzig in Munich.

Friday’s incident is not the first time people have been attacked at a Christmas market in Germany.

In 2016, Anis Amri, a Tunisian man who failed to obtain asylum in Germany and has links to the so-called Islamic State (IS), he drove a truck into the crowds gathered at a church market in Berlin12 died and 49 were injured.

Two years later, a gunman opened fire at a Christmas market in the eastern French city of Strasbourg, killing five and wounding 11 others. The gunman was shot dead by police two days later.

Only last month, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser spoke of the need for “extreme vigilance” in the most popular markets – but said there were no “firm” indications of danger.

He also reportedly pointed to stricter gun laws in public spaces following a knife attack in Solingen, western Germany, in August that left three people dead – an incident that sparked an already heated debate over asylum and immigration in Germany.

Additional reporting by Frank Gardner.