5 people died, more than 200 people were injured

Five people were killed, including a child, and more than 200 were injured after a car plowed into a crowd at a Christmas market in the eastern German city of Magdeburg, officials said.

Reiner Haseloff, the premier of Saxony-Anhalt state, told reporters on Saturday that many people were seriously injured. German media reported that 41 people were seriously injured.

Haseloff told reporters on Friday that the suspect – who was arrested – is a 50-year-old Saudi Arabian citizen who came to Germany in 2006 and worked as a doctor.

He said the preliminary investigation showed that the alleged attacker acted as a lone wolf. He could not rule out the possibility of additional deaths given the number of injuries.

The suspected attacker’s motives are unclear and he has no connection to Islamic extremism – social media and online posts appear to show he has criticized Islam .

Footage from the scene showed multiple emergency service vehicles attending while people lay on the ground.

Further footage then emerged showing armed police confronting and arresting a man who could be seen lying on the ground next to a stationary vehicle.

Unverified video on social media purports to show a car driving into a crowd at the market.

City officials said about 100 police, medics and firefighters as well as 50 rescue workers responded to the scene.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said: “My thoughts are with the victims and their relatives. We stand with them and with all the people of Magdeburg. I would like to thank all the emergency services in these difficult times.”

Scholz visited the city on Saturday. There will be a memorial service for the victims at Magdeburg Cathedral.

In an interview with German newspaper Bild, Nadine described being at the Christmas market with her boyfriend Marco when a car came towards them at speed.

“He was beaten and pulled away from me,” the 32-year-old man told the newspaper. “It’s terrible.”

Meanwhile, Lars Frohmüller, a reporter for German public broadcaster MDR, told BBC Radio 4’s World Tonight that he saw “blood on the floor” as well as “many doctors trying to keep people warm and help them treat their wounds.”

German media identified the suspect as Taleb A, a psychiatrist living in Bernburg, about 40km south of Magdeburg.

Originally from Saudi Arabia, he came to Germany in 2006 and in 2016 was recognized as a refugee.

He runs a website aimed at helping other former Muslims fleeing persecution in their Gulf homeland.

As evidenced by social media posts, the suspect is an outspoken critic of Islam and has promoted conspiracy theories related to a plot to seek Islamic supremacy in Europe.

When the incident happened, the Magdeburg football team was playing against Fortuna Dusseldorf.

After the match ended, the team’s players lined up in front of their supporters. A statement from the club said their “thoughts are with those affected by the terrible events and the Magdeburg Christmas market”.

Meanwhile, a minute of silence was held at the end of the match between Bayern and RB Leipzig in Munich.

Friday’s incident is not the first time people at a Christmas market have been attacked in Germany.

In 2016, Anis Amri, a Tunisian man who was denied asylum in Germany and was affiliated with the so-called Islamic State (IS) group, truck driver drove into a crowd gathered at a church market in Berlinkilling 12 people and injuring 49 others.

Two years later, a gunman opened fire at a Christmas market in the eastern French city of Strasbourg, killing five people and injuring 11 others. The gunman was shot dead by police two days later.

Only last month, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser spoke of the need for “greater vigilance” in crowded markets – but said there were no “concrete” signs of danger.

She is also said to have pointed to tougher laws on weapons in public spaces after a knife attack in Solingen, western Germany, in August that left three people dead – an incident that sparked a fierce debate on asylum and migration in Germany.