Photos and video of the scene of the horrific car crash at a Christmas market in Germany

(CLO) A driver crashed his car into a crowd of people reveling at a Christmas market in central Germany on Friday night, killing at least two people and injuring more than 60 before being arrested.

Saxony-Anhalt state premier Reiner Haseloff said one of the dead was a child. The incident happened in the state capital Magdeburg, 150km west of Berlin.

German newspaper Die Welt reported that a rental car was used by the suspect in the attack. Police have not “ruled out” the possibility that an explosive device could have also been used in the apparent attack.

According to local media, the suspect was arrested and is believed to have been born in Saudi Arabia in 1974.

Video of the incident (source: social network X)

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A video of the incident posted to X shows a car plowing into a large crowd at the market, apparently intentionally, at high speed. Several victims can be seen lying motionless on the ground after being hit.

While the motive remains unclear, the nature of Friday's incident and the suspect's nationality quickly fueled speculation that it could have been an Islamist terrorist attack.

The driver of the car in Friday's apparent attack was "not known to German authorities" as an Islamist extremist, according to a report from the German news agency DPA, citing unnamed security officials. Few additional details about the suspect were available at the time of publication.

Reiner Haseloff, the governor of Saxony-Anhalt state, told reporters on Friday that the 50-year-old suspect was believed to be "a lone actor" and "there is no further danger to the city".

A view of a Christmas market blocked off after a horrific car crash in Magdeburg, Germany on December 20, 2024. (Photo courtesy of AP, not for reuse)

According to Haseloff, the two confirmed dead were an adult and a child. The death toll could still rise because at least 15 people were seriously injured.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, in a post on X: "My condolences to the victims and their families. We stand by them and the people of Magdeburg. I thank the dedicated rescuers in these anxious hours."

At least 13 people were killed and dozens more injured on December 19, 2016, in a similar incident at a Christmas market in Berlin. The suspect, an extremist with links to the terrorist group IS, was killed in a gun battle a few days later in Italy.

Hoang Anh (according to DW, DPA, Bild)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/hinh-anh-va-video-vu-dam-xe-kinh-hoang-nghi-khung-bo-o-khu-cho-giang-sinh-duc-post326746.html