Death toll from German Christmas market car-ramming

21/12/2024 17:05

The death toll from a car-ramming at a German Christmas market in the city of Magdeburg rose to four on Saturday, according to German newspaper Bild, after a suspect on Friday ploughed into a large crowd of visitors.



German authorities are investigating a Saudi doctor, arrested as the suspected driver of the car, with Der Spiegel magazine reporting he had sympathies with the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party.



Over 60 people were injured, some of them seriously, when a vehicle drove through crowds gathered at a market in the central city, local officials said. A young child was among the dead.



Police said they arrested a 50-year-old from Saudi Arabia who has been living in Germany for almost two decades. Police did not name the man and were not immediately available to comment on the reported rise in the death toll.



The man worked as a doctor in a nearby town, local officials said. Police searched his home overnight.



A Saudi source told Reuters that Saudi Arabia had warned German authorities about the attacker after he posted extremist views on his personal X account that threatened peace and security.