TWO people have been killed – including a toddler – and up to 80 people are possibly injured after a car plowed into a crowd at a German Christmas market.
The motorcycle plowed into terrified revelers celebrating in Magdeburg as horror scenes saw people head-on and thrown to the ground.
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People were left lying on the ground after the BMW drove through the crowdCredit: Avalon.red
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Police are now on the scene and investigating the incidentCredit: AP
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Shortly after the tragedy, a man was arrested at the scene.
The suspect, a 50-year-old Saudi doctor, was not known to German authorities as an Islamic extremist, German news agency DPA reported.
Some 60 to 80 people may have been injured after it drove 400 meters across the Christmas market, according to Bild.
Officials suspect that it was a deliberate act.
Saxony-Anhalt Prime Minister Reiner Erich Haseloff has now confirmed the death of two people, including a small child.
Some of the injured are said to be in a critical condition and a large number of emergency workers are now at the scene.
The car – a black SUV BMW – broke through the barriers that protect the market and crashed into customers shortly after 7 p.m.
Emergency services quickly arrived at the scene and set up tents to treat the injured.
Police cars illuminated the scene with blue lights as they investigate what happened.
In an initial report, Magdeburg police said: “There is currently an extensive police operation taking place at the Christmas market in Magdeburg.
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“The downtown Christmas market is closed. Further reports will be sent.”
The police are not yet sure if it was carried out by a lone perpetrator.
The Christmas market took to Instagram to ask people to stay away.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the reports “suggest that something terrible is about to happen”.
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One person is reported to have died, while up to 80 people could be injuredCredit: AP
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A black BMW SUV allegedly drove 400 meters through the market Credit: NTV/UNPIXS
In a post on X, he said: “My thoughts are with the victims and their families. We stand with them and with the people of Magdeburg.
“I thank the dedicated rescuers in these anxious hours.”
Matthias Schuppe, a government spokesman in the province of Saxony-Anholt, said it was an “attack” in comments to local media.
A local police spokesman said: “We don’t yet know exactly what happened.”
The Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt Reiner Haseloff is on his way to Magdeburg.
He said: “This is a terrible event, especially now in the days leading up to Christmas.”
Another Christmas market in Germany’s Erfurt has now been evacuated as a precaution.
Local hospitals in Magdeburg are now preparing for a “mass casualty event,” according to Reuters.
Eight years ago, a truck driven by a failed asylum seeker from Tunisia with Islamist ties plowed into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring dozens more.
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Saxony-Anhalt’s Ministry of the Interior described the incident as an ‘attack’Credit: Rex
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Paramedics treat the injured in tentsCredit: Avalon.red
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Police officers quickly arrived at the scene
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