Saudi man arrested for German Christmas market attack that killed 2, injured 68

At least two people, including a child, were killed and over 60 people were injured as a car drove into a crowd at a Christmas market in Germany’s Magdeburg on Friday.

German police have arrested Taleb, a 50-year-old doctor from Saudi Arabia, who they say was driving the car. Notably, earlier reports claimed that 11 people were killed in the attack, but officials later confirmed that there had been only two deaths so far.

Reiner Haseloff, premier of the state of Saxony-Anhalt, where Magdeburg is the capital, was quoted as saying by Reuters that the doctor had a permanent residency of Germany and lived there for around two decades.

“As things stand at the moment, we are talking about a lone offender, which means that there is no further danger to the city because we were able to arrest him,” he said. According to German media, he was believed to have rented a BMW which he used in the attack.

The German Police suspected that the vehicle contained an explosive device, news agency Reuters reported, citing local broadcaster. However, they didn’t find any explosives inside the car.

Many police officers and emergency services were on site, and the market manager had told people to leave the city centre, MDR said. Eyewitnesses told the broadcaster that the car drove straight into the crowd at the market, in the direction of the town hall.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed concern over the incident.

“The reports from Magdeburg suggest something bad is about to happen. My thoughts are with the victims and their families. We stand by their side and by the side of the people of Magdeburg. My thanks go to the dedicated rescue workers in these anxious hours,” he said in a post on X.

Eight years ago, a truck driven by Anis Amri, a failed Tunisian asylum seeker with Islamist links, crashed into a crowded Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people and injuring dozens of others.

Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry condemned the incident and expressed “solidarity with the German people and the families of the victims”.

“The Kingdom affirms its position in rejecting violence, and expresses its sympathy and sincere condolences to the families of the victims, and to the government and people of the Federal Republic of Germany, wishing the injured a speedy recovery,” the ministry said in a statement.