In Magdeburg, man drives into people at Christmas market: child among killed, over 200 people injured

On Friday, December 20, a man drove into people at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg, as a result of which five people were killed and more than 220 were injured, including a Ukrainian citizen. The suspect, a psychiatrist named Taleb A., was arrested at the scene.

This is reported by Reuters.

So, the suspect, a 50-year-old psychiatrist who has lived in Germany for almost two decades, was arrested at the scene after a three-minute attack in the city center. Police did not name the suspect, whom German media identified only as Taleb A.

The driver slowly drove his car towards the market, then picked up speed and drove into the crowd at the Christmas market, a city police spokesman told reporters. According to city authorities, the killed were a nine-year-old child and four adults. Authorities have closed the market until the end of the season.

According to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, among the victims of the attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg is a Ukrainian citizen born in 1972. She is in serious condition in one of the German clinics. The Embassy of Ukraine in Germany and our consuls are in contact with the clinic and are providing the necessary assistance.

"Our entire country mourns with Magdeburg. It is terrible how many people were killed and injured here at a cheerful Christmas market with incredible brutality. I sincerely wish all the victims and their families strength and a speedy recovery of body and soul," Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on social media during a visit to the city, where he laid a white rose in a church.

German authorities said on Saturday that the motive was unclear. However, Magdeburg prosecutor Horst Nopens said one possible factor could have been what he called the suspect's frustration with Germany's treatment of Saudi refugees.

Messages on the suspect's X account, verified by Reuters, show that he supported anti-Islam and far-right parties, including the Alternative for Germany (AfD), and criticized Germany for its treatment of Saudi refugees.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said the suspect's Islamophobia was evident but declined to comment on a motive.

A Saudi source told Reuters that Saudi Arabia had alerted German authorities about the suspect after he posted extremist views on his X account that threatened peace and security.

A German security source said Saudi authorities had issued several warnings in 2023 and 2024 and that they had been passed on to the relevant security authorities. Investigators had carried out a risk assessment and concluded that the man did not pose a "particular danger", Welt newspaper reported, citing security sources.