Written by Thomas Escritt and Rachel Moore
Magdeburg, Germany (Reuters) – The German newspaper Bild reported that the death toll in a run-over accident at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg rose to four on Saturday after a Saudi man was arrested on suspicion of running over a car. The crowd.
Dozens were injured in the attack that occurred on Friday evening, which came amid intense debate over security and immigration during an election campaign in Europe's largest economy, in which the far right is strongly ahead.
It was not immediately possible to contact the police to comment on the announced casualty numbers. Local officials initially said that at least two people had been killed and warned that the number could rise.
The Bild report stated that 41 people were seriously injured, and that 86 people were receiving treatment in hospital for serious injuries, while 78 others were slightly injured.
German authorities are investigating a 50-year-old Saudi doctor who has lived in Germany for nearly two decades in connection with the hit-and-run accident. The police searched his house throughout the night.
The motive remains unclear and police have not yet named the suspect. He was named in the German media as Talib A.
A Saudi source told Reuters that Saudi Arabia warned the German authorities about the attacker after he published extremist views on his personal account on X that threaten peace and security.
Der Spiegel magazine reported that the suspect was sympathetic to the far-right Alternative for Germany party. The magazine did not mention where it obtained this information.
The German domestic intelligence agency declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.
The German newspaper FAZ said it interviewed the suspect in 2019, and described him as an anti-Islam activist.
He was quoted as saying: “People like me, who have an Islamic background but are no longer believers, are not met with understanding or tolerance by Muslims here.” “I am one of the harshest critics of Islam in history. If you don’t believe me, ask the Arabs.”
Andrea Rees, who was at the market on Friday, returned on Saturday with her daughter, Julia, to place a candle next to the church overlooking the site. If it weren't for a few moments, they might have been in the car's path, she said.
“I said, 'Let's go get a hot dog,' but my daughter said, 'No, let's keep walking around,'” she said. If we had stayed where we were, we would have been in the car's path.”
Tears streamed down her face as she described the scene. “The children are screaming and crying for Mama. You can't forget that,” she said.
German Chancellor Olaf Schulz is scheduled to visit Magdeburg later on Saturday.
His Social Democratic Party is trailing the far-right Alternative for Germany party and the front-runner conservative opposition in opinion polls ahead of early elections scheduled for February 23.
The Alternative for Germany party has led calls for a crackdown on immigration into the country.
Chancellor candidate Alice Weidel and co-leader Tino Shruppala issued a statement on Saturday condemning the attack.
“The horrific attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg in the middle of a quiet pre-Christmas period has shaken us,” they said.
A prominent member of Schulz's Social Democratic Party in the Bundestag parliament warned against jumping to conclusions and said it appeared that the attacker did not have an Islamic motive.
“We now have to wait for the investigations. It seems that things here are different than initially assumed,” Dirk Wiese told the Rheinische Post newspaper.
