A driver drove into a group of people at the Christmas market in Magdeburg. Government spokesman Matthias Schuppe confirmed to WELT that it was an attack. According to city spokesman Michael Reif, the initial situation is an “attack on the Christmas market”. The suspected perpetrator is in police custody. As WELT learned from security circles, it is said to be a man from Saudi Arabia born in 1974.

Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff (CDU) has now confirmed this information. Accordingly, the suspect is a doctor who has lived in Germany since 2006 and works in Bernburg, south of Magdeburg. According to current information, the man was a lone perpetrator and was not known to the authorities as an Islamist. State Interior Minister Tamara Zieschang said he had a permanent residence permit.

According to WELT information, the man had rented a car before the crime and then drove it to the Christmas market. A piece of luggage was found on the passenger seat. It is unclear whether there might be an explosive device inside; The authorities have not yet ruled out this scenario. The police also check whether the driver acted alone.

A video showing an arrest on Ernst-Reuter-Allee near the crime scene shows a man lying on his stomach on the ground. Several police officers approach him with guns drawn. Apparently they assume that he could be carrying explosives. “Careful, don’t get too close,” one of the police officers can be heard saying.

The car in which the perpetrator drove into the crowd “at least 400 meters across the Christmas market” was still on site, a police spokesman said in the evening. It’s supposed to be a BMW. The AFP news agency reports, citing the emergency service control center, that there are “60 to 80 injuries”. According to Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff, at least two people died, an adult and a small child.

The head of the Christmas market called on MDR to leave the city center. The police have now cordoned off the city center. Drivers should avoid Magdeburg city center, reports the “Volksstimme”. Pedestrians were warned by megaphone to leave the city center. According to “Bild”, the police are searching the cordoned off area of ​​the Christmas market for explosives.

Sirens, blue lights, fire brigade: The Christmas market is swarming with ambulances and paramedics, reported the German Press Agency. A large Christmas pyramid was the last to be taken care of. Several injured people were carried away. According to the MDR, all hospitals in Halle an der Saale, around 80 kilometers away, are preparing to receive the injured. All rescue helicopters in the greater Halle area fly towards Magdeburg.

The Christmas market is located on the Old Market, right next to the Magdeburg town hall near the Elbe. In the evening, videos could be seen on Platform X in which numerous emergency vehicles could be seen. An eyewitness reported to the “Volksstimme” that the perpetrator had driven to the fairy tale area of ​​the Christmas market, where many families were visiting. She was just able to jump to the side with her child.

Saxony-Anhalt’s Prime Minister Reiner Haseloff (CDU) reacted with horror to what happened. “This is a terrible event, especially now in the days before Christmas,” said Haseloff to the German Press Agency. Haseloff was initially unable to provide any information about the victims or the background to the incident.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) also reacted with dismay. “My thoughts are with the victims and their families. “We stand by your side and by the people of Magdeburg,” Scholz wrote on Platform X. “My thanks go to the dedicated rescue workers in these anxious hours.”

Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser recently repeatedly called for vigilance when visiting Christmas markets. There are currently no concrete indications of danger, said the SPD politician at the end of November. “But given the abstractly high threat situation, we still have reason to be very vigilant and take consistent action to ensure our security.”

The act is reminiscent of the terrorist attack on the Christmas market on Berlin’s Breitscheidplatz, which only celebrated its eighth anniversary on Thursday. On December 19, 2016, an Islamist terrorist hijacked a truck and drove into the Christmas market. A total of 13 people died as a result of the crime, one of them as a result years later. More than 70 people were injured, some of them seriously. The assassin fled to Italy, where he was shot dead by the police.

This article will be continually updated.