Terror Strikes Magdeburg Christmas Market: Five Dead, Dozens Injured

The Magdeburg Christmas market in Germany witnessed a bloody rampage as a black BMW rammed through Christmas shoppers on Friday evening.

The disastrous event killed five people as of now, one of which was a child, and at least 205 people were injured out of which 41 sustained severe injuries, with the count still on a raise.

Police have approached the case as a Germany terrorist attack.

The incident: Germany Christmas market

The havoc unfolded at about 7:04 pm local time in Magdeburg, Germany, when the car ploughed through the crowded marketplace for 400 meters at high speed and knocked down families near the fairytale setting.

Response to the tragedy 

Tents were erected on the deck to attend to the injured as first responders tried to calm them down.

Taleb A., a 50-year-old Saudi national and a German resident since 2006 who is a psychiatrist by profession, was arrested on the spot.

Officials said that he had no links to Islamist militants, despite previous anti-Islam comments on social media accounts. The authorities are still trying to establish whether the man had assistance in the crime or was a radicalized individual.

The Magdeburg Christmas market attack has been shocking for Germany, and all the more, so during one of the most joyous times of the year.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated in his comment on the tragedy, “This is a terrible event, especially in the weeks before Christmas, and we are also heightening the security measures at all the German Christmas markets.”

Taking into account of similar past incident

This event reminds of the 2016 terrorist attack in Germany when a truck ploughed through the Christmas market in Berlin, and 13 people were killed.

The attendants and traditions at the Christmas market Germany are still threatened by new dangers even though new security measures such as bollards have been employed.

While the community is grieving, people still have concerns to whether something like this could happen again.

At the moment, high spirits and joy associated with the Christmas markets in Germany have been replaced by sorrow and panic.