MAGDEBURG, Germany. A devastating car-ramming attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg has claimed the lives of five people and left more than 200 injured, including nearly 40 in critical condition. The attack occurred on Friday evening as visitors gathered to celebrate the festive season, turning the joyful atmosphere into a scene of tragedy.
A 50-year-old Saudi doctor, identified by German media as Taleb A., has been arrested in connection with the attack. Authorities are currently investigating the incident, and police conducted an overnight search of his home. While the motive remains unclear, the suspect’s background and statements are under scrutiny.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his sorrow during a visit to the city in central Germany, where he laid a white rose at a local church in honor of the victims.
“What a terrible act it is to injure and kill so many people there with such brutality,” Scholz said. “We have now learned that over 200 people have been injured. Almost 40 are so seriously injured that we must be very worried about them.”
German authorities and media have pieced together a complex portrait of the suspect. A Saudi source told Reuters that the Saudi government had warned Germany about the suspect due to extremist posts on his personal X (formerly Twitter) account, which allegedly threatened peace and security.
German publication Der Spiegel reported that Taleb A. had expressed sympathies for the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, though the suspect’s ideological affiliations remain unclear. In a 2019 interview with FAZ, the suspect described himself as an “aggressive critic of Islam,” stating, “I am history’s most aggressive critic of Islam. If you don’t believe me, ask the Arabs.”
Germany’s domestic intelligence agency has declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.
Andrea Reis, who narrowly escaped the attack, returned to the site with her daughter Julia to lay a candle in memory of the victims. Fighting back tears, she recalled the terrifying moments.
“Children screaming, crying for mama. You can’t forget that,” Reis said. “If we had stayed where we were, we would have been in the car’s path.”
The attack has added fuel to Germany’s ongoing debate about security and migration ahead of snap elections on February 23. The far-right AfD, which has been polling strongly, called for stricter migration policies following the incident.
“The terrible attack on the Christmas market in Magdeburg in the middle of the peaceful pre-Christmas period has shaken us,” said AfD leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla in a joint statement.
However, Dirk Wiese, a senior Social Democrat lawmaker, cautioned against premature conclusions about the attacker’s motive.
“Now we have to wait for the investigations. It seems that things are different here than was initially assumed,” Wiese told Rheinische Post.
As the investigation unfolds, the tragedy has cast a shadow over Germany’s festive season, leaving the nation grappling with grief and questions about safety and integration.
Gary P Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
