At least two people have died, one of them a little boy, and 63 people have been injured15 of them serious, in a multiple accident at a Christmas market in Magdeburgcapital of the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, in Germany. He driver was arrested shortly after the accident and regional authorities They do not rule out that it is an attack.
According to witnesses, at 7:04 p.m. a black BMW drove at high speed directly into a crowd that was heading towards the town’s Town Hall.
The vehicle zigzag the 400 meters that cover the market area with the aim of taking the greatest number of people ahead. The Police arrested the perpetrator of the attack when he tried to turn around to go back through the market and run over more people.
Multiple car accident in Germany.
As reported in a press conference by the Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt, Reiner Haseloff, The detainee is a doctor born in Saudi Arabia in 1974 who had been in Germany since 2006, has a permanent residence permit and works in Bernburg, south of Magdeburg.
An investigation by the German network RTL/ntv indicates that the suspect made “clearly anti-Muslim comments on social networks” and “fears the Islamization of Germany”, echoing publications by the far-right group Alternative for Germany and the owner of X, Elon Musk , among others.
According to the newspaper Die Weltapparently He rented the crime vehicle shortly before the attack and went directly from the place where he bought the car to the market.
Inside the vehicle, the Police found a suitcase. Although the area was cordoned off fearing that it could contain some type of explosive, already in the early hours of Saturday it was confirmed that it was not hiding any type of dangerous device..
The spokesperson for the regional government, Mathias Schüppe, He confirmed that it was probably an attack due to the way the events unfolded, as the car plowed into the crowd.
A video on social networks shows several people lying on the ground and emergency services present at the scene of the accident.
The prime minister from Saxony-Anhalt confirmed that at least two people, one of them a child, they have died in the attack, while the city of Magdeburg reported that there are 15 seriously injured, 37 moderately injured and 16 lightly injured.
The nearest hospital has already prepared beds for intensive care, as are those in the Halle region. The region’s medical helicopters have also moved to the vicinity of the accident site.
Despite this, there are injured people who are being treated in the vicinity of the attack, such as inside a tram to treat the slightly injured, or in the shopping center located next to the market.
The person in charge of the Christmas market asked people to leave the city center, which has already been cordoned off by the security forces. In addition, the Police have created a website so that citizens can provide information or images of what happened.
In turn, the head of the Thuringian Interior, Georg Maierhas ordered security to be redoubled in the markets over the next few days. For their part, several organizers of these events in Germany have closed their activities tonight and also for tomorrow, for the moment.
The mayor Simone Borristhrough tears, has been “deeply shocked” and has announced a mourning ceremony in the city’s cathedral this Saturday afternoon. All cultural events have been canceled until the 23rd as a sign of mourning.
The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his concern about what happened. “The news coming from Magdeburg suggests something bad. My thoughts are with the victims and their families,” Scholz wrote in a publication on X. On Saturday he will visit the scene of the event together with the head of the Interior of his government, Nancy Faeser.
The magnate has given his opinion precisely on the management of the social democrat Scholz Elon Muskcurrently aligned with Donald Trump: “Scholz should resign immediately. Incompetent fool,” he indicated on his X account, the social network he presides over. Hours earlier he had said that the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party was the country’s “only salvation.”
The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sanchezhas shown his condolences on the social network to their families and to all the German people.
Eight years since the Berlin attack
This Friday’s tragic event reminds terrorist attack on Berlin Christmas market in 2016, which this Thursday marked its eighth anniversary.
On December 19 of that year, Anis Amri, a Tunisian asylum seeker with Islamist linkshijacked a truck and broke into the Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz in the German capital ending the lives of 12 people and leaving more than 50 injured. The perpetrator of the attack fled to Milan, where he was killed by the Police.
Since then they have reinforced security measures in this type of markets throughout the country, due to fear that similar attacks could occur again.
In fact, Minister Faeser recently asked citizens repeatedly to be vigilant during their visits to Christmas markets.
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