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Two people killed and scores injured in Germany Christmas market attack
Two people have been killed and scores injured after a car was driven into a crowd of people at a Christmas market in Germany, according to local media reports.
The driver has been arrested following the incident in the city of Magdeburg, which is west of Berlin, News agency dpa said.
Police said the market has been closed.
Key events
Saudi Arabia have condemned the attack at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg on Friday evening, the Gulf country’s foreign ministry said in a statement.
Police have arrested a suspect in the attack, which killed at least two people.
Reiner Haseloff, premier of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, earlier described the attacker as a 50-year-old male doctor from Saudi Arabia with permanent residency in Germany, where he had lived for almost two decades.
Kate Connolly
Elon Musk said the German chancellor Olaf Scholz should resign immediately as a result of the attack on the Christmas market, even as the circumstances around it have yet to be established.
“Scholz should resign immediately,” Musk posted on X, in a frontal attack on the German leader, adding: “Incompetent fool.”
It was his second intervention in a day in German politics. Earlier he had appeared to endorse the far-right populist AfD on X claiming it was the only party that could “save Germany”.
The billionaire and adviser to the upcoming US President Donald Trump appears to be increasingly trying to influence politics outside the USA.
In another post he shared video footage that apparently showed emergency vehicles at the Magdeburg Christmas market, commenting “terrible”.
Musk has repeatedly weighed in to criticism Germany’s asylum policies, supporting the AfD’s insistence that it would successfully stamp out irregular migration and increase the deportations of foreign criminals.
An eyewitness told Sky News how he heard people screaming as the car was driven at speed through the Christmas market.
Liam Clowes, 29, said: “I turned around and initially thought the noise was the children’s carousel that was just behind us.
“All of a sudden a car comes from the right of us straight across.
“It was driving at a speed of at least 30-40mph and people were going over the car.
“We knew it was a serious incident as it happened.”
Clowes added the car was about 15 yards away from him and he saw it drive into people.
“The driver didn’t apply any brakes or anything, the car was just driven through people.”
The UK’s prime minister Keir Starmer said he is “horrified” by the attack on a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg.
He said: “I am horrified by the atrocious attack in Magdeburg tonight.
“My thoughts are with the victims, their families and all those affected.
“We stand with the people of Germany.”
Kate Connolly
Germany’s president Frank-Walter Steinmeier, who would normally be preparing his Christmas address to the nation, said in a statement: “The anticipation of a peaceful Christmas was suddenly interrupted by the reports from Magdeburg.
“Whilst not all of the details behind the terrible act have yet been clarified, my thoughts are with the victims and their families. I would like to thank all the rescue workers for their efforts.”
Kate Connolly
The police in Saxony Anhalt are appealing to people to upload any photos or videos around the incident which might help their investigations.
The city centre remains sealed off to the public. A suspicious package found on the passenger seat of the black BMW which drove into the market has still not been officially identified, amid speculation that it might contain explosives.
A hotline for citizens directly affected by the attack who want to find out about relatives or friends has been set up. A separate hotline at the University Clinic in Magdeburg, where many of the more seriously injured are being treated, has also established a separate hotline for those seeking information.
Scores of people were injured and at least two people, including a small child, were killed on Friday after a car ploughed into a crowd of people at a Christmas market in the eastern German town of Magdeburg, in what local officials are describing as a terror attack.
At least 68 other people were injured, including 15 who were left in a critical state, according to the city government.
A black BMW apparently drove straight into the crowd at the Christmas market, travelling at speed for 400 metres in the direction of the town hall, according to eyewitnesses cited by the broadcaster.
Videos posted on social media appeared to capture the attack, showing a dark-coloured car drive into the crowds at high speed. Several media outlets showed the videos in their coverage, but the authenticity of the footage has yet to be officially confirmed.
Kate Connolly
According to local media, people with less serious injuries are being treated in a tram close to the site of the market which has been turned into a temporary medical centre.
On the square itself, large hospital tents are also being used to treat the wounded. The market square is full of debris from the attack including overturned chairs, abandoned food, strings of Christmas lights and broken market stalls.
Elsewhere around the square in Magdeburg’s city centre, the Christmas illuminations and decorations on display mark a stark contrast to the devastation and carnage left following the attack.
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