MAGDEBURG, Germany (AP) — Germans connected Saturday mourned some nan victims and their shaken consciousness of information aft a Saudi expert intentionally drove into a Christmas marketplace teeming pinch vacation shoppers, sidesplitting astatine slightest 5 people, including a mini child, and injuring astatine slightest 200 others.
Authorities arrested a 50-year-old man astatine nan tract of nan onslaught successful Magdeburg connected Friday evening and took him into custody for questioning. He has lived successful Germany for astir 2 decades, practicing medicine successful Bernburg, astir 40 kilometers (25 miles) southbound of Magdeburg. officials said.
The politician of nan surrounding authorities of Saxony-Anhalt, Reiner Haseloff, told reporters that nan decease toll roseate from 2 to 5 and that much than 200 group successful full were injured.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that astir 40 of them “are truthful earnestly injured that we must beryllium very worried astir them.”
Several German media outlets identified nan fishy arsenic Taleb A., withholding his past sanction successful statement pinch privateness laws, and reported that he was a master successful psychiatry and psychotherapy.
Mourners lit candles and placed flowers extracurricular a religion adjacent nan marketplace connected nan acold and gloomy day. Several group stopped and cried. A Berlin religion choir whose members witnessed a erstwhile Christmas marketplace onslaught successful 2016 sang Amazing Grace, a hymn astir God’s mercy, offering their prayers and solidarity pinch nan victims.
The man down nan attack
There were still nary answers Saturday arsenic to what caused him to thrust into a crowd successful nan eastbound German metropolis of Magdeburg.
Describing himself arsenic a erstwhile Muslim, nan fishy shared dozens of tweets and retweets regular focusing connected anti-Islam themes, criticizing nan belief and congratulating Muslims who near nan faith.
He besides accused German authorities of failing to do capable to combat what he said was nan “Islamism of Europe.” Some described him arsenic an activistic who helped Saudi women fly their homeland. He has besides voiced support for nan far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.
Recently, he seemed focused connected his mentation that German authorities person been targeting Saudi asylum seekers.
Prominent German coercion master Peter Neumann said he had yet to travel crossed a fishy successful an enactment of wide unit pinch that profile.
“After 25 years successful this ‘business’ you deliberation thing could astonishment you anymore. But a 50-year-old Saudi ex-Muslim who lives successful East Germany, loves nan AfD and wants to punish Germany for its tolerance towards Islamists — that really wasn’t connected my radar, ” Neumann, nan head of nan International Centre for nan Study of Radicalization and Political Violence astatine King’s College London, wrote connected X.
“As things stand, he is simply a lone perpetrator, truthful that arsenic acold arsenic we cognize location is nary further threat to nan city,” Saxony-Anhalt’s governor, Reiner Haseloff, told reporters. “Every quality life that has fallen unfortunate to this onslaught is simply a unspeakable calamity and 1 quality life excessively many.”
Magdeburg is still shaken
The unit shocked Germany and nan city, bringing its politician to nan verge of tears and marring a festive arena that’s portion of a centuries-old German tradition. It prompted respective different German towns to cancel their play Christmas markets arsenic a precaution and retired of solidarity pinch Magdeburg’s loss. Berlin kept its markets unfastened but has accrued its constabulary beingness astatine them.
Germany has suffered a drawstring of extremist attacks successful caller years, including a weapon onslaught that killed 3 group and wounded 8 astatine a show successful nan occidental metropolis of Solingen successful August.
Magdeburg is simply a metropolis of astir 240,000 people, westbound of Berlin, that serves arsenic Saxony-Anhalt’s capital. Friday’s onslaught came eight years aft an Islamic extremist drove a motortruck into a crowded Christmas market successful Berlin, killing 13 people and injuring galore others. The attacker was killed days later successful a shootout successful Italy.
Chancellor Scholz and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser traveled to Magdeburg connected Saturday, and a memorial work is to return spot successful nan metropolis cathedral successful nan evening. Faeser ordered flags lowered to half-staff astatine national buildings crossed nan country.
A recount of nan horrifying attack
Verified bystander footage distributed by nan German news agency dpa showed nan suspect’s apprehension astatine a tram extremity successful nan mediate of nan road. A adjacent constabulary serviceman pointing a handgun astatine nan man shouted astatine him arsenic he laic prone, his caput arched up slightly. Other officers swarmed astir nan fishy and took him into custody.
Thi Linh Chi Nguyen, a 34-year-old manicurist from Vietnam whose salon is located successful a promenade crossed from nan Christmas market, was connected nan telephone during a break erstwhile she heard large bangs and thought astatine first they were fireworks. She past saw a car thrust done nan marketplace astatine precocious speed. People screamed and a kid was thrown into nan aerial by nan car.
Shaking arsenic she described nan scary of what she witnessed, she recalled seeing nan car bursting retired of nan marketplace and turning correct onto Ernst-Reuter-Allee thoroughfare and past coming to a standstill astatine nan tram extremity wherever nan fishy was arrested.
The number of injured group was overwhelming.
“My hubby and I helped them for 2 hours. He ran backmost location and grabbed arsenic galore blankets arsenic he could find because they didn’t person capable to screen nan injured people. And it was truthful cold,” she said.
The marketplace itself was still cordoned disconnected Saturday pinch red-and-white portion and constabulary vans each 50 meters (about 54 yards). Police pinch instrumentality pistols guarded each introduction to nan market.
Some thermal information blankets still laic connected nan street.
Christmas markets are a German vacation contented cherished since nan Middle Ages, now successfully exported to overmuch of nan Western world.
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Saudi Arabia’s overseas ministry condemned nan onslaught connected X.
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Aboubakr reported from Cairo and Gera from Warsaw, Poland.