Live updates: 2 dead after attack on Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany

Live updates: 2 dead after attack on Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany

Police officers guard a cordoned off area near the scene where a car drove into a crowd at a Christmas market in Magdeburg on Friday, December 20.

An adult and a toddler were killed at a Christmas market in Magdeburg on Friday evening when a car plowed into the crowd. According to authorities, at least 15 people were seriously injured and a total of 68 people were injured.

Magdeburg is the capital of Saxony-Anhalt and is located about 100 miles west of Berlin.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said security authorities were working to clarify the details of the attack.

Here’s what we know:

Suspicious: The suspected driver who was arrested was a 50-year-old man from Saudi Arabia with a permanent residence permit, said the Interior Minister of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, Tamara Zieschang, on Friday. He is a doctor working in the country and has lived in Germany since 2006, said Reiner Haseloff, Prime Minister of the State of Saxony-Anhalt. Preliminary information suggests he acted alone, Haseloff added.

On site: Victims who sustained minor injuries in the attack are being treated at a nearby shopping center, local public broadcaster MDR reported. According to a statement published on the city of Magdeburg’s Facebook page, around 100 firefighters and 50 rescue workers were on site. According to MDR, local police suspect that there could be an explosive device in the vehicle that drove through the Christmas market. The Magdeburg police had cordoned off the entire area because of the possible risk of explosives, the local station reported.

Managers answer: Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz will travel to Magdeburg on Saturday, said Haseloff. In a statement on Friday, Scholz said his thoughts were with the victims after a car crashed into a Christmas market in Magdeburg. The presidents of France and the European Council also expressed their condolences to the victims.

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