Police have arrested a 50-year-old man after a automobile ploughed right into a busy outside Christmas market in Magdeburg on Friday night, killing a minimum of 5 folks and injuring 200 others.
At least 5 folks – together with a nine-year-old boy and 4 ladies – have been killed within the assault because the suspect is remanded in custody.
Footage confirmed the car breaking via boundaries earlier than rushing 400 metres via the crammed “fairytale-like” Magdeburg market.
Here is every little thing we all know concerning the suspect to date.
Who is the suspect?
The suspect is a 50-year-old physician from Saudi Arabia, named by German media as Taleb al-Abdulmohsen. On Saturday night, he was remanded into custody after showing in courtroom.
“The judge ordered pre-trial detention for five counts of murder, multiple attempted murder and multiple counts of dangerous bodily harm,” its assertion stated.
Authorities confirmed that he first got here to Germany in 2006 and later gained refugee standing in 2016.
Local media reported that he had proven assist for the far-right Alternative for Germany get together (AfD), with a Saudi supply telling Reuters that the dominion had warned German authorities concerning the attacker, who the supply stated had posted extremist views on his private X account.
A German safety supply informed the information company that suggestions despatched by the Saudi authorities in 2023 and 2024 had been handed on to the related authorities. Newspaper The world cited safety sources as saying {that a} threat evaluation performed by state and federal investigators concluded that the person posed “no specific danger”.
Interior minister Nancy Faeser informed reporters on Saturday: “At this point, we can only say for sure that the perpetrator was evidently Islamophobic — we can confirm that. Everything else is a matter for further investigation and we have to wait.”
In the times since his arrest, an interview the suspect gave to the BBC in 2019 has resurfaced.
In the video, he’s seen talking a few web site he designed to assist former Muslims flee the Gulf area.
He labored as a psychiatric physician within the close by city of Bernburg, together with his office issuing a press release describing their shock on the assault.
Posting on Instagram, the Salus-Fachklinikum Bernburg clinic stated it was “shocked to learn that the alleged perpetrator worked as a specialist doctor in our enforcement in Bernburg”.
It added that the suspect had been employed there as a psychiatric specialist since March 2020, however he had not been working since October as a result of sickness and vacation.
German public broadcaster MDR beforehand reported that police suspected there may very well be explosives within the suspect’s automobile, however police later confirmed none have been discovered after nearer inspection.
Follow our reside protection of the incident right here
How many individuals have died?
At least 5 folks have been killed within the surprising incident, authorities confirmed. One of these killed was a nine-year-old baby.
Authorities confirmed on Saturday that 200 folks have been injured, together with 40 very critically.
German chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed concern concerning the situation of these injured. He informed reporters: “Almost 40 are so seriously injured that we must be very worried about them.”
Mr Haseloff informed reporters earlier that further deaths couldn’t be dominated out as a result of variety of folks injured.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/german-christmas-market-attack-suspect-taleb-al-abdulmohsen-b2668588.html