The death toll from the hit-and-run accident in Germany rose on Saturday to 5 victims, while police arrested the attacker who rammed his car into a group of people in a Christmas market in the town of Magdeburg in the east of the country, injuring more than 200, including many in serious condition.
At 7:04 local time in Germany, the suspect drove a BMW car at high speed for more than 400 metres, inside a Christmas gift market in Magdeburg, and hit pedestrians.
A video clip, posted on social media from a location above the market, showed a car driving quickly through a crowd walking between two rows of market stalls, and passers-by could be seen falling to the ground or running away in fear.
The motive behind the attack was not clear, as the local MDR station reported that the suspect was not known to the German authorities as an extremist, according to what Reuters reported.
According to information provided by the newspaper,BildGerman police arrested a suspect shortly after the incident, which occurred on Friday evening.
The accused is a 50-year-old Saudi immigrant doctor, named Talib Al-Abdul Mohsen, who specializes in medicine and psychotherapy and is sympathetic to the ideas of the far-right Alternative for Germany party, and enjoys permanent residency in Germany He has been present in the country since 2006.
The suspect presents himself, on his account on the “X” platform, as a Saudi dissident, and he used to express anti-Islamic views and supportive of the extreme right and Israel, and went so far as to accuse Germany of wanting to “Islamize Europe.”
Talib attacked the German state, accusing it of “imposing censorship on victims,” and that the German police are “the motive behind the spread of Islamism” in Germany. He accused it of using “dirty tricks against critics of Islam,” and in one of his publications he said: “We need the Alternative Party to… Germany to protect us.”
In another post, he said: “If Germany wants a war, we are theirs… If they want to kill us, we will slaughter them, die, or go to prison,” and he adds, claiming: “We have exhausted all peaceful means.”
In a video posted on “X,” he said that his name is a student, that he is from Saudi Arabia, and an activist who founded a website to help asylum seekers, especially from the Gulf region.
A Saudi source told Reuters that the Kingdom had warned the German authorities about the attacker, who the source said had published extremist views through his personal account on the X website.
Saudi condemnation
Saudi Arabia condemned the hit-and-run accident, expressing its solidarity with the German people and the families of the victims.
The Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs said, in a statement, “The Kingdom condemns the hit-and-run incident that occurred in a market in the city of Magdeburg in Germany, resulting in the death and injury of a number of people.”
It affirmed its position in rejecting violence, and expressed its “sympathy and sincere condolences to the families of the deceased, and to the government and people of the Republic of Germany.”
Rainer Hasloff, Prime Minister of Saxony-Anhalt, said one of the victims was a young child. Hasloff said: “It is a terrible tragedy… a disaster for the city of Magdeburg, for the state and for Germany in general.” He added that the number of victims may rise because the injuries of some of the injured are “severe.”
He continued: “In the current situation, we are talking about a lone attacker, and this means that there is no longer a danger to the city because we were able to arrest him.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who expressed his sympathy to the families of the victims and the injured in a post on the X website, is expected to visit the site of the accident on Saturday, along with Interior Minister Nancy Weiser.
As news of the attack spread, Elon Musk, the billionaire close to US President-elect Donald Trump, criticized Schultz and called on him to resign.
Condolences and condemnations
Schulz said through a post on his account on the “X” platform: “The reports coming from Magdeburg indicate that something bad is about to happen… My heart goes out to the victims and their families… We stand by you and by the people of Magdeburg… Thank you to the dedicated rescue workers in these hours.” “The difficult one.”
Subsequently, the Mayor of Magdeburg, Simone Boris, said that a memorial service will be held in the city’s cathedral, on Saturday at 7 pm (18:00 GMT), while a memorial site will be established in St. John’s Church, which is located on the site of the Christmas market. Where the attack occurred.
In turn, the town’s spokesman, Michael Reeve, said that theaters and various cultural events will be canceled in the coming days, after the attack.
International reactions
In this context, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said: “The United States is shocked and saddened by the tragic news from Magdeburg… We are ready to provide assistance as recovery efforts and the investigation by the authorities continue into this horrific incident.”
The United Nations expressed its shock over the attack on the German city of Magdeburg, as Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, said in a statement: “We were shocked by the news of the attack today in Magdeburg, Germany,” according to the Deutsche Welle website.
He added: “We express our condolences to the families of the victims, as well as to the government and people of the Federal Republic of Germany. We wish the injured a speedy recovery.”
In turn, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that he was “appalled by the brutal attack that occurred in Magdeburg… We stand with the people of Germany.”
French President Emmanuel Macron commented in French and German through his account on the “X” platform, saying: “I was deeply shocked by the horrors witnessed by the Christmas market in Magdeburg in Germany. France shares the pain of the German people and expresses its deep solidarity with them.”