By Catherine Nicholls, Frederik Pleitgen, Avery Schmitz, Lauren Kent and Benjamin Brown, CNN
Police and rescue personnel cordon off the area next to a Christmas market, where a car crashed into a crowd killing and injuring people in Magdeburg.
Photo: Doerthe HEIN / DPA / AFP
At least two people are dead and dozens are injured after a car plowed into a crowd at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg, according to local authorities.
At least 68 people were injured in the Magdeburg Christmas market attack, including 15 people with serious injuries, according to a statement posted on the city of Magdeburg’s Facebook page.
An adult and toddler were killed in the attack and the suspected driver has been arrested, the regional Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt, Reiner Haseloff, said in a televised statement.
Footage from social media, verified by CNN, shows the gruesome moment a black car drove directly into the crowd at the busy Christmas market.
In the video, dozens of people are crowded at the market stalls when the vehicle plows directly into them. Some people can be seen running away from the car in panic, others dive into the stalls.
Bodies and debris are scattered across the narrow lane as the car turns out of the plaza.
According to Haseloff, the suspected driver is a doctor from Saudi Arabia who works in Saxony-Anhalt. The suspect has been living in Germany since 2006, Haseloff added.
Saxony-Anhalt region’s Interior Minister Tamara Zieschang later said the suspect is a 50-year-old man with a permanent residency permit.
Magdeburg police cordoned off the entire site due to the possibility of explosives as they suspect an incendiary device could be in the vehicle behind the attack, reported local public broadcaster MDR.
Extensive police measures are currently in place at the scene, Magdeburg police said in a post on X. Around 100 firefighters and 50 rescue personnel have been deployed, the city of Magdeburg said.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on social media that his thoughts were with the victims of the attack. “We are at their side and at the side of the people of Magdeburg. My thanks go to the dedicated rescue workers in these anxious hours,” he said.
Magdeburg is the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt and has a population of about 240,000.
The Christmas market is scheduled to be open from November 22 through December 29, according to the market website. It has about 140 market stalls, as well as an ice skating rink, a ferris wheel and a children’s play area.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
CNN’s Inke Kappeler and Melissa Gray contributed to this report.
– CNN