Saudi Doctor Plows Car Through a Crowded Christmas Market in Germany; at Least Two Dead, Dozens Injured

BERLIN — A Saudi Arabian doctor, driving a black BMW, tore through a Christmas market at the eastern German city of Magdeburg on Friday, killing at least two people, with up to 80 people injured, according to reports. The driver of the car was arrested, the German news agency dpa reported. The suspect is a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia who has lived in Germany since 2006 and has permanent residency status, according to government officials. Pictures uploaded to social media show the suspect with his head on the ground and surrounded by police.As many as 15 of the injured are in serious condition, according to reports. A small child is among the dead, a local official said. The German news outlet Bild reported that 11 people were killed, but that hasn’t been confirmed by local officials. An explosive device may be inside the suspect’s vehicle, German public broadcaster MDR said, citing police reports. The vehicle was believed to be rented. A regional government spokesman, Matthias Schuppe, and a city spokesman, Michael Reif, said they suspected terror as the motive.“This is a terrible event, particularly now in the days before Christmas,” Saxony-Anhalt’s governor, Reiner Haseloff, said. He added that the suspect is believed to have acted alone. The BMW smashed through protective barriers around the market and drove straight into revelers, according to reports based on eye-witness accounts. Magdeburg, which is west of Berlin, is the state capital of Saxony-Anhalt and has about 240,000 inhabitants.On December 19, 2016, at Berlin, an Islamic extremist attacker plowed through a crowd of Christmas market-goers with a truck, leaving 13 people dead and injuring dozens more. The attacker was killed days later in a shootout in Italy.The interior minister, Nancy Faeser, had said late last month that there were no concrete indications of a danger to Christmas markets this year, but that it was wise to be vigilant.Chancellor Scholz, who plans to visit Magdeburg on Saturday, wrote on social media that his thoughts were with the victims. “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.

Saudi Doctor Plows Car Through a Crowded Christmas Market in Germany; at Least Two Dead, Dozens Injured

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