A car drives through a crowd of people at a Christmas market. At least two people die and dozens are injured. The suspect is known as an activist critical of Islam.

The act:
A car drove into a crowd at the Christmas market in Magdeburg, eastern Germany, on Friday evening. An adult and a small child were killed in the incident. According to the police, there were over 60 injured, including 15 seriously injured. The Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt, Reiner Haseloff (CDU), said that further deaths could not be ruled out: “This is a catastrophe for the city of Magdeburg and for the country and also for Germany in general.”

The alleged perpetrator:
The motives of the arrested suspect for the alleged attack are still unclear. The investigative authorities are currently assuming that the perpetrator was a lone perpetrator. The 50-year-old from Saudi Arabia was found at the scene by emergency services and arrested. He is said to have most recently worked as a doctor in the field of psychotherapy in Saxony-Anhalt. According to current knowledge, he is not known to the authorities as Islamist.

According to research by WDR and NDR, he is said to be a prominent figure in the Saudi exile community and was considered a contact person for asylum seekers, especially women. He has had asylum status as a political refugee since 2016. According to media reports, the alleged perpetrator is said to have developed into a radical critic of Islam in Germany and was looking for like-minded people.

According to research by Spiegel, on his account at He recently made some confusingly worded allegations against German authorities in social media and interviews. Among other things, he accused them of not doing enough to combat Islamism.

Reactions from politics:
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser announced that she would come to Magdeburg on Saturday together with Chancellor Olaf Scholz “to express our deep sympathy and thank the emergency services.” The Federal Interior Minister has recently repeatedly called for vigilance when visiting Christmas markets. Chancellor Scholz addressed the victims and their relatives on Platform X.

French President Emmanuel Macron also wrote on X that he was deeply shocked. France shares the grief of the German people. EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen described the act as “brutal and cowardly”. And Swiss Federal President Viola Amherd wrote on X that her thoughts were with the victims and their relatives. Switzerland stands on Germany’s side.

Saudi Arabia also condemned the deadly attack. “The kingdom expresses its solidarity with the German people and the families of the victims,” the Foreign Ministry wrote in a statement on X. In the statement, the country did not mention the suspect, who comes from Saudi Arabia.

The memory of a Berlin Christmas market attack:
On December 19, 2016, an Islamist terrorist drove a truck into the Christmas market at Breitscheidplatz in Berlin. 12 people were killed, the 13th victim died as a result in 2021. More than 70 people were injured. The police are now also being particularly careful in other cities with Christmas markets, as the authorities in Berlin and Stuttgart announced.